§ Mr. Ron Daviesasked the Paymaster General (1) how many loans have been made under the career development scheme to date in each pilot area and in total;
(2) what is the total value of loans made under the career development scheme to date in each pilot area arid the overall total value.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeAt 30 October 1986, the number and value of career development loans notified to my Department by participating banks for each of the four pilot areas and in total was as follows:
Number of loans Value of loans £ Aberdeen 26 50,494 Bristol & Bath 45 103,635 Greater Manchester 29 44,935 Reading & Slough 30 68,750 Total 130 267,814
§ Mr. Ron Daviesasked the Paymaster General how many loans of £500 to £1,000, £1,000 to £2,000, £2,000 to £3,000, £3,000 to £4,000 and £4,000 to £5,000 have been made under the career development scheme to date in each of the pilot areas and in total.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeAt 30 October 1986, the number of career development loans notified to my Department by the participating banks was as follows:
Number of Career Development Loan applications Number of formal rejections1 Greater Manchester 111 82 Reading & Slough 42 12 Total of 4 Areas 254 124 1 The participating banks advise that a greater number have not proceeded with applications to the stage of formal rejection, but detailed statistics are not kept.
§ Mr. Ron Daviesasked the Paymaster General if he will make a statement on the progress of the career development scheme to date in each of the pilot areas.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeI hope that people who live in the four pilot areas of Aberdeen, Bristol/Bath, Greater Manchester and Reading/Slough, or who wish to train in these areas, will consider whether to take advantage of the career development loans. Some 130,000 leaflets have been distributed about this scheme and requests have been received for some 10,000 detailed information packs. Greater Manchester, with the largest population, has so far attracted most applications, but numbers are now also growing in the other three areas.