asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many applications for firearms certificates in Northern Ireland have been refused since 1st January 1975; how many have been granted; and what were the figures in 1974 and 1973 for the same period.

The figures for the period 1st January to 30th June are as follows:school leavers, sandwich course students, and redundant apprentices. My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer has allocated £50 million to the commission for use over the next two years in developing employment and training programmes, including those designed to help young people.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many school leavers in Scotland, Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow, in number and as a percentage of the insured work force, are as yet unplaced in their first jobs; and what effect the July leaving date is expected to have on the relevant figures.

The following table shows the number of unemployed school leavers aged under 18. Corresponding rates of unemployment are not shown as the numbers of unemployed school leavers for each area form only about a tenth of 1 per cent. of the estimated total number of employees, employed and unemployed. It is expected that just tinder 50,000 young people in Scotland will leave school for employment at the end of the summer term but it is not possible to assess what effect these will have on levels of unemployment since it is not known how many of them have already obtained offers of employment.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many young people who left school at Christmas 1974 and Easter 1975 are still unemployed in the Hamilton and Lark-hall area.

The precise information is not readily available as statistics