§ Mr. McMasterTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what assessment he has made of the sufficiency of youth training places in Renfrewshire; how many eligible youths in the past two years have failed to obtain a place; how many have(a) been offered and (b) accepted other than first choice of training; what proportion this is of total trainees; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. StewartThe delivery of youth training in Renfrewshire is the responsibility of Scottish Enterprise through its contact with the relevant local enterprise company, Renfrewshire Enterprise. Scottish Enterprise has assured me that the Government's youth training guarantee is being met, and will continue to be met, within that area.
This assurance implies that no eligible young people who have applied for a youth training place have failed to receive offers of suitable places, which is the entitlement conferred by the guarantee, although there will at any time be current applicants awaiting identification of a suitable place. The vast majority of young people receive offers of training through the careers service who take a number of factors into account, including the young person's preference, the local labour market and the abilities and aptitudes of the young person. The role of careers officers is to use their expertise to offer suitable training, even in cases where this differs from the young person's first choice.
In the light of the obligation on local enterprise companies to ensure that offers of training places continue to be made to eligible young people for as long as they continue to seek a place and of the responsibility of the careers service to judge what constitutes a suitable offer of 733W training, the Scottish Office does not hold information about numbers of young people who choose not to take up any of the offers of youth training places which they receive or who are offered and accept places involving training which differs from their initial preference.