§ Mr. D. E. Thomasasked the Paymaster General if he will make a statement on the participation of people between the ages of 55 and 65 years in Manpower Services Commission sponsored schemes.
§ Mr. TrippierI have agreed that there should now be common age limits for men and women on Manpower Services Commission employment and training programmes. The cut-off age for participation in MSC measures is the 65th birthday.
The latest date for entry to programmes is determined on a programme-by-programme basis, depending upon the aims and objectives of the programme concerned.
Information on cut-off ages for entry for each scheme is as follows:
Age Community Programme 63 Voluntary Projects Programme 63 Enterprise Allowance Scheme *65 Job Training Scheme 65 Training Grants for Employers 65 Wider Opportunities for Training Programme 65 Restart 65 *From 1.2.87.
§ Mr. D.E. Thomasasked the Paymaster General what proportion of those taking part in Manpower Services Commission sponsored schemes in England are (a) over 50 but under 60 years of age and (b) over 60 years of age.
§ Mr. TrippierThe information is not available in the form requested. However the latest scheme-by-scheme information available shows
Enterprise Allowance Scheme—in England 12.5 per cent. of entrants are aged 45–55 and 5.3 per cent are aged 55–65.292WCommunity Programme—in Great Britain 7 per cent of participants are aged 45–55 and 3 per cent. are aged over 55.Voluntary Projects Programme—in Great Britain 8 per cent. of participants are aged 50 and over.Jobstart—in Great Britain 5.9 per cent. of allowance recipients are aged 45–54, 1.8 per cent. are aged 55–59 and 0.4 per cent. aged 60–64.Adult Training Schemes—the information is not available nationally.Information is not kept on the ages of people counselled under the restart programme or entering restart courses or jobclubs.