asked the Secretary of State for Employment (1) how many young persons who left school in the city of Birmingham in the last 12 months have not yet been placed in employment;(2)what is the estimated number of job opportunities for young persons leaving school in the city of Birmingham at the end of the present school term, including those available through Government schemes;(3)how many school leavers will be registering for employment in the city of Birmingham at the end of the present school term.

I regret that I am unable to supply the precise information. In June there were 1,979 school leavers registered as unemployed in the City of Birmingham, but the statistics do not identify the dates on which they left school. It is estimated that of about 2,000 Easter leavers between 500–600 registered as unemployed, but it is not known how many of these were still unemployed in June. About 20,000 young people are expected to be leaving school to seek employment this summer, and about 600 of these have so far registered for employment.It is not possible to make reliable estimates of job opportunities for this year's leavers, but in June the number of vacancies for young people remaining unfilled was 2,969. In the normal course the placing of summer leavers into employment is spread over a period of several months and many employers have not yet completed their recruitment programmes. The special measures introduced by the Government to alleviate unemployment have been extended and expanded to meet the needs of school leavers who have difficulty in obtaining jobs.