§ Ms. ShortTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if she will publish for Great Britain and for each standard region the monthly reports of supply and demand for youth training places which have been sent to her since July 1992; and if she will make a statement.
§ Mr. McLoughlinThe information is not available in the form requested.
§ Ms. ShortTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment by region, and for Great Britain as a whole, and shown separately for male and female, how many 16 and 17-year-olds were in receipt of extended child benefit and how many were in receipt of bridging allowance for each month since June 1992; how many young people in each region and in Great Britain exhausted their entitlement to youth training bridging allowance; and if she will make a statement.
§ Mr. McLoughlinResponsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to the Employment Service Agency under its chief executive. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from A. G. Johnson to Ms. Clare Short, dated 29 October 1992:
As the Employment Service is an Executive Agency, it is the responsibility of Mike Fogden, the Agency's Chief Executive to answer Parliamentary Questions about relevant operational matters. In his absence, I am replying to your question to the Secretary of State for Employment about how many 16 and 17-year-olds in Great Britain as a whole and by region, and shown separately for males and females, were in receipt of extended child benefit, how many were in receipt of bridging allowance, for each month since June 1992 and how many in each region and in Great Britain exhausted their entitlement to bridging allowance.
The information you have requested is provided in the attached tables. The period of extended child benefit for 1992 summer school leavers begins in September, which explains the rise in numbers between August and September. Unfortunately, a breakdown of the figures by sex and region is not available.
Terminations of bridging allowance may occur for a number of reasons, for example, a young person may no longer qualify for bridging allowance if they find a Youth Training place or a job; their eight week entitlement is exhausted; or if they are sick.
The figures that are collected each month show only the total number of terminations of bridging allowance in that period. There is no further breakdown of the figures to give particular reasons as to why the claims to bridging allowance have ceased.
831WI hope this is helpful.
As decided by the Administration Committee of the House of Commons, Chief Executive replies to written
Numbers in receipt of bridging allowance—by ES region June-September 1992 Northern Yorkshire and Humberside East Midlands London and South East South West Wales West Midlands North West Scotland Total June 1992 667 932 1,015 2,099 625 464 1,080 1,570 1,635 10,087 July 1992 713 946 1,009 2,218 690 454 1,144 1,559 1,560 10,293 August 1992 609 1,015 1,070 2,432 793 515 1,222 1,483 1,325 10,464 September 1992 527 908 932 2,048 670 471 994 1,384 1,187 9,157 Numbers of mates and females in receipt of bridging allowance—by ES region June 1992 Male 404 606 634 1,342 416 310 698 1,031 1,033 6,474 Female 263 326 381 757 209 154 382 539 602 3,613 July 1992 Male 484 599 624 1,423 432 308 726 978 971 6,545 Female 229 347 385 795 258 146 418 581 589 3,748 August 1992 Male 410 649 671 1,527 515 371 765 938 810 6,656 Female 199 366 399 905 278 144 457 545 515 3,808 September 1992 Male 342 586 599 1,311 445 343 630 894 750 5,900 Female 185 322 333 773 225 128 364 490 437 3,257
Numbers in receipt of extended Child Benefit June 1992—September 1992 Month Weekly average per month June 4,856 July 5,195 August Nil September 24,941 October 26,522 NB: The figure for October does not include week commencing 26 October 1992.
§ Ms. ShortTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what were the numbers of accidents in the youth training scheme, including fatal, major and minor, for the latest available three-month period; and how many YTS placements were closed or not accepted in that period and in the three preceding months.
§ Mr. McLoughlinThe following table gives the YT accident figures.
Quarter Fatal Major Minor April-June 1992 1 66 395 Notes:
(a) Employment Department figures for trainees have been compiled on a similar basis to those prepared by the Health and Safety Executive for employed persons. However, the Employment Department's figures include a number of accidents to trainees in educational establishments, and road traffic accidents, which would not have been reportable to the Health and Safety Executive had the individuals been employed.
(b) Major injuries are classified according to the severity criteria laid down in the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrence Regulations 1985. These regulations, which came into force on I April 1986, reclassified fractured wrists and ankles as major injuries. These were not classed as major injuries in the previous regulations, the Notification of Accidents and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1980 (NADOR).
Separate figures for closures and rejections of YT placements are no longer kept centrally.
832WParliamentary Questions will now be published in the Official Report. I will place a copy of this letter in the Library of the House.