asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many children left school in the Bury Metropolitan District of Greater Manchester at the end of the summer term; and how many and what percentage of boys and girls, respectively, have been able to obtain employment, and remain unemployed.

It is estimated that about 1,100 young people in the area have left school to seek employment this year.

		1971	1972	1973	1974	1975
(1)	Number of school leavers:
	(a) Easter	289	309	9	443	507
	(b) Summer	1,154	1,179	882	1,110	1,100*
	(c) Total	1,443	1,488	891	1,553	1,600*
(2)	Total number of school leavers unemployed in September	not available	57	11	43	—
(3)	(2) expressed as a percentage of (1) (c)	—	3·8	1·2	2·8	—
* Estimated.
Note:
The figures for 1974 and 1975 are not strictly comparable with earlier years because of minor boundary changes.

The process of settling summer leavers into employment normally extends over the period July to November, and it is still to early to forecast reliably how many will be registered as unemployed in September this year.