§ 75. Mr. OrmeTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will make a statement on health and safety in relation to YTS.
§ Mr. CopeThe Training Commission places paramount importance on health and safety in YTS. There is a contractural requirement on managing agents to secure the health, safety and welfare of trainees both in work placements and in off-the-job training. In addition, a positive commitment to health and safety is one of the criteria which have to be met before approved training organisation status is granted. Moreover, in 1987 a total of 211 work placements were closed or not accepted because they did not meet the stringent health and safety requirements of the commission.
Details of how the commission has been implementing its policy can be found in the latest annual report, "Health and Safety on YTS 1 January 1987 to 31 December 1987", which is being placed in the Library.
§ 88. Mr. VazTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what percentage of young people in YTS schemes also undertake part-time study for further education qualifications at the same time.
§ Mr. CopeThere is no information available on the amount of part-time study undertaken by YTS trainees apart from that leading to vocational qualifications as part of their YTS training programme.
It is an objective of the two-year YTS that all trainees should have the opportunity to gain a recognised vocational qualification or a credit towards a qualification. All two-year YTS training programmes must provide trainees with a minimum of 20 weeks, and one-year programmes a minimum of 13 weeks off-the-job training.
Evidence from a survey of YTS trainees in their second year in September 1987 showed that 98 per cent. of them had trained for a qualification in their first year on YTS.