§ Sir John Biggs-Davisonasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement about the Council of Europe conference held in the Province.
§ Mr. ScottA Council of Europe conference on Education and Training opportunities for the young school leaver in Europe was held at Cultra Manor, Holywood, Co. Down, from 14 to 18 May 1984. It was the first Council of Europe conference to be held in Northern Ireland and was attended by over 70 delegates and observers from all the member states of the Council of Europe except Liechtenstein, from other countries and from international organisations. This was an important event in the educational life of the Province and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland had the pleasure of hosting a reception for the participants on 14 May 1984; the conference was officially opened by my hon. Friend the Minister of State on 15 May and I attended on 17 May.
The aim of the conference was to consider strategies for the 16–19 year old age group in preparation for the next meeting of European Education Ministers to be held in Brussels in 1985. A number of speakers from Northern Ireland delivered papers on aspects of the youth training 91W programme and one day was allocated to visits by the delegates to a number of youth training programme schemes throughout Northern Ireland.