asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he is satisfied with the role of the Training Opportunities Scheme; what is the annual cost of Training Opportunities Scheme grants and the cost per place; and what percentage of those taking a Training Opportunities Scheme course immediately find an appropriate job.
While I am in general satisfied with the role of the Training Opportunities Scheme (TOPS), I am pleased that the future role, composition and scale of the scheme are currently under review and I expect to receive the Commission's recommendations on these matters in the autumn of this year. The provisional total annual cost of TOPS allowances during 1977–78 was £76 million. The total expenditure on the scheme was £190 million. During this period the average cost per year for each training place was £5,005 of which £2,062 represented allowances.Information about the placing of TOPS trainees is obtained from a postal survey of one in six of all TOPS trainees which started with effect from January 1977 and is carried out three months after the date of completion of training. Combined results for trainees completing courses in the first three quarters of 1977 indicate that 65 per cent. of a total sample of 7,432 TOPS trainees who completed their courses were in employment three months after the completion of training: 51 per cent. of all completers considered that they were using what they had learnt on the course.