§ Mr. Spriggsasked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the number of unemployed (a) men, (b) women, and (c) 16 to 18-year old school leavers at the latest date for which this information is available in the North-West region and the St. Helens travel-to-work area, respectively.
§ Mr. Peter MorrisonAt 11 December 1980 there were 224,872 males and 97,543 females registered as unemployed in the North-West region. Of these, 17,399 were school leaves aged 18 years and under. The corresponding figures for the St. Helens employment office area were 5,915 males, 2,690 females and 606 school leavers.
The hon. Member will know that the youth opportunities programme exists to help this group and that my right hon. Friend announced a major expansion of the programme for 1981–82.