§ Mr. Alfred Morrisasked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he has yet come to a decision on the publication of the numbers of employed and unemployed disabled persons in the Employment Gazette; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. AlisonA final decision has not yet been taken on what is to be published, but it is likely to include the overall number of disabled people registered for work at jobcentres at monthly intervals, a more detailed breakdown quarterly, and a wider analysis of disabled people unemployed following periodic sample surveys. I shall write to the right hon. Member giving details as soon as they have been finally settled.
§ Mr. Alfred Morrisasked the Secretary of State for Employment (1) what advice he has received from the Youth Training Board regarding (a) the age of entry for handicapped young people, (b) the length of time they may spend on the scheme and (c) the guarantee of a place to any handicapped young person; and if he will make a statement;
(2) if he will consider raising the maximum age at which young disabled people can qualify for entry to the youth training scheme from 18 years, as has been recommended by the National Bureau of Handicapped Students and other organisations; if he is satisfied that young disabled people will have opportunities for training under the youth training scheme at least equal to those now available under the youth opportunities programme; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Peter MorrisonI fully accept that disabled young people have special needs, and that is why we have made special provision so that unemployed disabled 18-year-old school leavers will be eligible for the youth training scheme.
The youth training board has now proposed that the maximum age of entry to the scheme for disabled young people should be raised to 21 and that they should be allowed to stay on the scheme for two years.
At this stage our priority for the new scheme must be to meet the guarantee of an early offer of a place to all 188W unemployed 16-year-old school leavers. It would not be right now to extend the existing special provisions for disabled youngsters by diverting resources away from other eligible groups. The eligibility conditions for the scheme will be reviewed in due course.
§ Mr. Alfred Morrisasked the Secretary of State for Employment on what staff to trainee ratio the funding of youth training schemes has been calculated; what staff to trainee ratio is expected for schemes with a significant proportion of handicapped young people; and whether any additional funding is to be made available to sponsors of schemes with a significant proportion of handicapped young people.
§ Mr. Peter MorrisonThe funding of schemes specially set up for unemployed youngsters, and operating outside employers' establishments, was based on an assumption that the overall staff to trainee ratio will be between 1:5 and 1:10, following the practice of the youth opportunities programme. The ratio will vary according to the type of activity being undertaken and the young people involved. Schemes catering for a significant proportion of handicapped young people will operate at the more staff intensive end of the range and will be funded accordingly.