§ Mr. Sheermanasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will place in the Library a copy of Manpower Services Commission memoranda 51⅓ and 514/3 together with all supplements to these memoranda so far issued; what comparisons can be made between accident figures for the scheme and statistics published for the employed population generally by the Health and Safety Executive; and what instructions are given to Manpower Services Commission staff as to the comparisons that may be made.
§ Mr. Peter Morrison[pursuant to his reply, 25 February 1985, c. 18–19]: Copies of Manpower Services Commission memoranda 51⅓ and 514/3 and all current supplements to these memoranda are being placed in the Library.
Researchers from Aston university, who have examined a sample of accidents to trainees in the youth opportunities programme between April 1980 and March 1983, expressed strong reservations in their final report on the validity of comparing accident incidence rates for the youth opportunities programme with figures from the Health and Safety Executive applying to the employed population generally.
This conclusion is equally applicable to the youth training scheme. It would thus not be right to make comparisons between accident figures for the scheme and those published by the Health and Safety Executive, and Manpower Services Commission staff have been instructed accordingly.