§ Mr. Spenceasked the Secretary of State for Employment what are the comparative figures for each European Economic Community member country, including the United Kingdom, with regard to the use of social fund money for the occupational and professional retraining of women and girls; by whom such courses are conducted; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. AlisonI regret that the information requested is not available, although there is no doubt that the European social fund makes a significant contribution to the training of women and girls throughout the Community.
Social fund assistance goes towards training programmes for both men and women without discrimination under the fund's various fields of intervention, in addition to the relatively small section of the Fund specifically concerned with schemes for women over the age of 25. Substantial numbers of women and girls are therefore included in applications to the fund, from all member States, for schemes which are open to both sexes—such as the youth opportunities programme 343W and the training opportunities programme in the United Kingdom. In its annual report concerning the social fund in 1980, the European Commission estimates that just over 30 per cent. of all beneficiaries under the social fund were women. Although precise figures are not available, the proportion in the United Kingdom was probably higher.
In 1981, the United Kingdom has secured assistance worth 141 million from the social fund—25.1 per cent. of total allocations. This allocation is in respect of schemes operated by the Manpower Services Commission, the Department of Manpower Services in Northern Ireland, other Government Departments, local authorities, nationalised industries, private firms, voluntary organisations and other bodies.