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West Midlands

Volume 918: debated on Monday 1 November 1976

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asked the Secretary of State for Employment what Government measures have been taken by his Department to preserve and create jobs and training opportunities in the West Midlands and what has been the cost.

I am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that up to 22nd October around 1,500 jobs had been created by projects approved in the West Midlands under the Job Creation Programme, with a total grant of £1.6 million. Under the Work Experience Programme 25 organisations in the West Midlands had work experience schemes approved by 29th October offering a total of 74 places to young people. The cost of these schemes to the Manpower Services Commission is estimated at approximately £31,000.When the skillcentre expansion programme is completed in the Midlands the number of places will exceed 2,000. In addition the Training Services Agency is making extensive use of spare training capacity in colleges of further education and employers establishments. Precise costs are not available for these measures.In 1975, and again this year the MSC has made financial incentives available through industrial training boards to assist employers in recruiting additional apprentices and other trainees. Firms in the West Midlands are eligible to benefit from these measures on the same basis as those in other parts of the country.Regional numerical and financial figures are not available, as the schemes operate on a national basis. However, 25,000 people benefited from the 1975 programme at a cost of £24 million, as it is expected that up to 41,000 will benefit from the 1976 programme at a cost of some £60 million.The West Midlands Region has also benefited from the operation of the temporary employment subsidy and the recruitment subsidy for school leavers schemes. Under the temporary employment subsidy scheme, 145 applications covering nearly 12,000 jobs have been approved at an estimated gross cost of about £11 million. Just over 2,900 applications under the recruitment subsidy for school leavers schemes have been West Midlands approved at an estimated cost of £300,000.