§ Mr. Fosterasked the Secretary of State for Employment what steps he is taking to ensure the maximum participation in the youth opportunities programme of physically and mentally handicapped young people.
§ Mr. Peter MorrisonI am informed by the MSC that all disabled young people are exempt from the rule which requires entrants to the programme to have been registered as unemployed for six weeks or more and the rule that young people should not spend more than 12 months in the programme. The careers service finds the youth opportunities programme of particular benefit to many handicapped young people. Where appropriate, providers of opportunities in the programme are encouraged to modify their schemes to facilitate the entry of a handicapped young person and the MSC's employment services division, through its disablement resettlement service, can in certain circumstances, arrange grants to adapt premises of equipment, or free loans of special equipment.
Where travel poses particular difficulties the MSC will meet any special transport costs which exceed the amount a young person on the programme is expected to meet from his allowance.
§ Mr. Fosterasked the Secretary of State for Employment how he will ensure that the rapid expansion of the youth opportunities programme will not be at the expense of the quality of the individual schemes.
§ Mr. WaddingtonThe Manpower Services Commission is considering a detailed plan for improving the quality of the youth opportunities programme as it expands. This will involve a considerable range of action, including improving the appraisal and monitoring of194W schemes, developing the education and training content of programmes and providing better technical support to those involved in providing opportunities.
§ Mr. Fosterasked the Secretary of State for Employment what steps he is taking to improve the quality of education and training in the youth opportunities programme.
§ Mr. Waddington[pursuant to his reply, 20 January 1981]: The Manpower Services Commission is considering a detailed plan for improving the quality of the youth opportunities programme as it expands. This will involve a considerable range of action, including improving the appraisal and monitoring of schemes, developing the education and training content of programmes and providing better technical support to those involved in providing opportunities.
§ Mr. Fosterasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many young people are in the youth opportunities programme; and what percentage of those young people is in work experience placements (a) for the United Kingdom as a whole, (b) for the Northern region and (c) for the Durham and Cleveland areas.
§ Mr. Peter Morrison[pursuant to his reply, 20 January 1981]: I am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that at the end of November there were some 147,000 young people participating in the youth opportunities programme (YOP) in Great Britain; about 17,000 of them were in the Northern region and about 8,500 in Cleveland and Durham. Northern Ireland has a separate programme. About 90 per cent. of YOP participants are in work experience schemes including work experience on employers premises (WEEP), project based work experience (PBWE), training workshops (TW) and community service (CS).