HC Deb 26 July 1982 vol 28 c364W
Mr. David Young

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many young people aged under 20 years are (a) unemployed and (b) on Government sponsored schemes in (i) Greater Manchester and (ii) the North-West region; and how this compares with the same date in 1979.

Mr. Peter Morrison

At April 1982, the latest date for which the quarterly age analysis is available, there were 29,036 young people under 20 years of age registered as unemployed in the Greater Manchester metropolitan county compared with 9,711 at April 1979. The corresponding figures for the North-West region were 73,868 at April 1982 and 32,944 at April 1979. Easter school leavers are included in the figures for April 1982 but not for April 1979.

The numbers of young people on Government schemes are shown as follows for the region and, where available separately, for Manchester. The table excludes those on the special temporary employment programme (1979) and the community enterprise programme (1982) for which separate figures are not available for those aged under 20.

Greater Manchester metropolitan county North-West region
Youth opportunities programme
April 1979 N/A 10,300
April 1982 N/A 34,800
Community industry
April 1979 94 564
April 1982 100 1,023
Young workers scheme*
April 1982 N/A 2,920
* Number of applications approved. The scheme did not exist in 1979.
N/A: not available.