§ Mr. Alfred MorrisTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the impending closure of employment training schemes initiated by the Allen Graham Trust for disabled and other disadvantaged young people; and what action he is prepared to take to save these schemes.
Mr. Jackson[holding answer 23 November 1990]: The financial difficulties of the Allen Graham Trust were first brought to my attention early last week. Because of the valuable work done over a period of years by the trust, I asked my officials to meet immediately with representatives of the trust to explore what might be done to assist them. During this meeting, it was established that the trust had become insolvent. In those circumstances, it would be wrong to put at risk further substantial sums of taxpayers' money. The main concern now is to ensure that everything possible is done to provide alternative opportunities for trainees and others as quickly as possible and with the minimum amount of disruption for the people concerned.