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Youth Training

Mr. Byers: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what percentage of people on youth training (a) failed to complete the course, (b) failed to obtain a recognised qualification and (c) completed the course but failed to find a job, for each training and enterprise council in the financial year 1995-96. [6331]

Mr. Paice: The available information, which comes from the national follow-up survey of YT trainees, is given in the following table. These results are consistent with the national totals published in "Labour Market Trends". They relate to the period February 1995 to January 1996, the last full year for which data are available. The figures overstate the extent to which young people leave the programme early. They include a significant number who simply switched from one training provider to another, as well as trainees who left early having already achieved their full qualification. Those not gaining a qualification will include many who subsequently obtained a job, or continued in further education and training.

2 Dec 1996 : Column: 479

Youth Training England and Wales by TECFebruary 1995 to January 1996 leavers

	Proportion of leavers who:
TEC	Did not complete the course	Did not gain a qualification	Completed the course but did not find a job
Bedfordshire	58	56	9
Central and South Cambridgeshire	47	48	8
North Derbyshire	50	47	11
South Derbyshire	47	47	10
Leicestershire	53	56	12
Lincolnshire	52	47	14
Norfolk and Waveney	59	70	17
Northamptonshire	48	46	10
Greater Nottingham	55	52	11
North Nottinghamshire	48	55	12
Greater Peterborough	47	46	12
Suffolk	45	43	13
County Durham	56	46	12
Northumberland	52	48	19
Teeside	52	45	15
Tyneside	55	48	15
Sunderland City	n/a	n/a	n/a
Barnsley and Doncaster	56	48	13
Bradford	49	47	14
Calderdale-Kirklees	50	48	10
Humberside	54	49	11
Leeds	45	45	7
Rotherham	56	56	15
Sheffield	56	51	14
Wakefield	48	61	15
North Yorkshire	41	46	11
Bolton-Bury	45	52	13
Normidtec	58	51	7
South and East Cheshire	n/a	n/a	n/a
Cumbria	47	47	15
Eltec	44	46	10
Lawtec	42	48	11
Central Manchester	53	55	10
Merseyside	62	58	13
Oldham	51	51	12
Rochdale	55	51	14
Qualitec	47	47	17
Stockport-High Peak	46	49	10
Metrotec	55	49	5
Cewtec	57	46	14
Birmingham	46	41	17
Central England	50	50	10
Coventry-Warks	47	44	10
Dudley	50	51	9
Hawtec	45	46	12
Sandwell Tec	47	48	9
Shropshire	49	46	10
Staffordshire	40	38	8
Walsall	59	57	8
Wolverhampton	53	56	11
Mid Glamorgan	56	61	11
South Glamorgan	n/a	n/a	n/a
Gwent	52	59	14
Powys	n/a	n/a	n/a
North-east Wales	40	46	16
North-west Wales	47	55	15
West Wales	55	59	15
Westtec	49	45	15
Devon-Cornwall	42	53	18
Dorset	52	49	9
Gloucester	41	52	12
Somerset	46	55	16
Wiltshire	48	45	14
Essex	49	45	16
Hampshire	49	49	12
Heart of England	40	45	16
Hertfordshire	38	45	14
Wight Training	42	53	16
Kent	48	51	14
Milton Keynes	44	46	12
Surrey	48	47	13
Sussex	46	50	11
Thames Valley	42	57	9
Aztec	44	50	13
North London	38	50	15
North-west London	47	55	22
Clintec	n/a	n/a	n/a
Central London	49	52	24
London East	47	47	17
Solotec	46	53	20
West London	45	43	12
South Thames	n/a	n/a	n/a
England and Wales	49	49	13

Note:

n/a = not available due to the low number of processed returns.

Source:

YT National follow-up survey.

2 Dec 1996 : Column: 481

2 Dec 1996 : Column: 483

Training

Mr. Byers: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what amount was spent on training by the Department for each unemployed person in (a) 1989-90 and (b) 1995-96, (i) in cash terms and (ii) in 1995-96 prices. [6332]

Mr. Paice: As the programmes covered by training expenditure are by no means confined to the unemployed, it would not be appropriate to express expenditure per unemployed person.

Disabled People

Mr. Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she has made a decision on the future of committees for the employment of people with disabilities. [7400]

Mr. Paice: Committees for the employment of people with disabilities--CEPDs--were first set up under the Disabled Persons (Employment) Act 1944 to perform specific functions related to the Act. In recent year's they have mainly been involved in providing advice and assistance to the Employment Service. The current terms of appointment of CEPD members cease on 31 March 1997.

The employment provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995--DDA--which come into force today, make fundamental changes to the way we approach the employment of disabled people, and will establish a new era of opportunity for them. In view of these new provisions, we have been considering whether the ES still requires local advisory arrangements. Consultations showed the value of partnership working between the ES and a range of local organisations and individuals able to influence positive developments in disabled people's employment in the local labour market.

We have taken into consideration the new opportunities that the DDA brings, the range of views expressed and the need to make best use of available resource. We have decided that the relevant provisions of the 1944 Act, under which CEPDS are appointed, will be repealed and that, with effect from April 1997, the ES will set up in each region a non-statutory regional disability consulting group.

These new regional consulting groups will provide a fresh, more streamlined approach to partnership working between the ES and relevant local organisations and individuals. The groups will be encouraged to contribute actively to the ES's regional and local initiative to promote improvements in the employment of disabled people.

I should like to take this opportunity to record my thanks for the important contribution made by current and past members of CEPDs and their predecessors. The new era which opens up today owes much to their willingness to work with the ES over many years to help improve the employment prospects for disabled people.

2 Dec 1996 : Column: 484

ENVIRONMENT

Local Authority Arrears

Sir Irvine Patnick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the arrears from (i) rents and (ii) other income currently outstanding to each local authority; what incentives are used to encourage local authorities to reduce these debts; and if he will make a statement. [4903]

Sir Paul Beresford: Information on local authority rent arrears is collected from authorities on their housing subsidy claim form returns. A ranked listing of authorities' cumulative arrears as a percentage of rent roll is released each year in a DOE news release. Copies of the DOE news release, the latest of which provides statistics on the position at the end of March 1995 and was released on 12 January 1996, are in the Library of the House.

Other arrears relate primarily to uncollected community charges and council taxes, but may also result from a range of other sources such as outstanding insurance claims, trading activities, mortgage arrears and so on. Information on uncollected community charge and council tax for each local authority is not available centrally. However, the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy regularly publishes estimates for individual authorities: figures for 31 March 1995 are available in its "Revenue Collection Statistics 1994-95" publication, a copy of which is in the Library of the House. No information is available centrally on any other forms of arrears.

The Government expect local authorities to pursue all arrears of rent, community charge and council tax and so on that are collectable. It is in the interests of authorities to do so to restrict their level of borrowing and council tax bills overall. Authorities have a range of powers enabling them to enforce recovery of rent arrears, community charge and council tax arrears. They use these powers at their discretion and my Department has provided general guidance through practice notes and other advice. For example, in October 1994, a research report, "Rent Arrears in Local Authorities and Housing Associations" was issued by the Government to all local authorities; this contains good practice advice on preventing and managing rent arrears.

The Government have introduced a range of measures to encourage authorities to maximise revenue collection, for example the ring-fencing of housing revenue accounts, penalising poor performers in the distribution of housing investment programme allocations and requiring publication of rent arrears information under the citizen's charter performance indicator regime set up by the Audit Commission.

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