§ Mr. Barry Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he has had any consultations with 234W the Manpower Services Commission regarding the 142 young and young adult persons employed by Elephant Jobs Ltd., currently under an 8 April notice following a decision by the Manpower Services Commission not to refund the jobs for a further 12 months; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. AlisonIt is the view of the Manpower Services Commission that some of the schemes sponsored by Elephant Jobs Limited do not fully meet the criteria for the community enterprise programme. Being long established, Elephant Jobs Limited was allowed to continue sponsorship of its schemes when the community enterprise programme replaced the special temporary employment programme on 1 April 1981. There are now more than enough sponsors to fill all the available places on the programme and thus the MSC has to consider carefully whether or not it can continue to fund those schemes whose eligibility is more doubtful.
In the case of Elephant Jobs Limited, its failure to satisfy the Manpower Services Commission that all the necessary accounting procedures have been properly followed forced the Manpower Services Commission to state that it would withdraw its funding. At my request, the chairman of the Manpower Services Commission has offered Elephant Jobs Limited funding for a further 3 months to give an opportunity to complete the proper accounts and to bring its scheme fully within the criteria.