§ Mr. Normantonasked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the total amount of money being spent in Cheshire by his Department and the Manpower Services Commission on special employment measures; and how many adults and school leavers are benefiting from these schemes.
§ Mr. Peter MorrisonI regret that the specific information requested is not available for Cheshire. I am, however, able to say that, from the commencement of the current financial year 1980–81 to 31 December 1980, the estimated cost of the current special employment measures, and the approximate numbers of people covered by the measures at the end of December 1980 for the North-Western region—unless otherwise stated—is as follows:
Estimated cost in current year 1980–81 to 31 December 1980 £m. Number of people covered at end of December 1980 Temporary short-time working compensation 32.9 90,900* Job release scheme 17.7 10,000 Youth opportunities programme 28.2 21,000 Special temporary employment programme 7.4 2,670† Community industry 1.83 916‡ *The figure given is the number of people supported by the scheme rather than the number of redundancies averted. †The figure given relates to 28 November 1980. ‡The figure given relates to 8 January 1981.