To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how much has been allocated from the European social fund towards the cost of employment training on an annual basis; and what amount was requested by Her Majesty's Government.

For 1987, the latest year for which figures are available, the European Commission allocated £435,562,257 from the European social fund to applications submitted by Her Majesty's Government for the United Kingdom for employment and training measures. This compares with a bid of £1,105,391,991 for these measures.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether unemployed claimants who leave the proposed employment training scheme before the end of their agreed training period and sign on again as unemployed will be referred to adjudication officers for assessment.

All those who make a fresh claim to benefit, including people who have left employment training without completing their action plan, are required to be available for work, and may be referred to an adjudication officer if their availability is in doubt. Leaving the programme early will not by itself be grounds for referral to an adjudication officer.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment under what circumstances those who leave the employment training scheme will be subject to benefit penalties for leaving the scheme without good reason.

People who leave employment training without completing their training will not be liable to benefit penalties for that reason alone.