C5C1C22F1 Functions of the Secretary of State.

1

The Secretary of State shall make such arrangements as he considers appropriate for the purpose of assisting persons to select, train for, obtain and retain employment suitable for their ages and capacities or of assisting persons to obtain suitable employees (including partners and other business associates).

2

Arrangements under this section may—

a

include arrangements for providing temporary employment for persons in Great Britain who are without employment;

b

include arrangements for encouraging increases in the opportunities for employment and training that are available to women and girls or to disabled persons;

c

subject to the restriction of paragraph (a) of this subsection to persons in Great Britain, be made in respect of employment and training anywhere in the United Kingdom or elsewhere;

C3d

include provision for the making of payments by the Secretary of State, by way of grant or loan or otherwise, to persons who provide facilities in pursuance of the arrangements, to persons who use those facilities and to other persons specified in or determined under the arrangements;

e

include provision for the making of payments to the Secretary of State by other parties to the arrangements and by persons who use those facilities;

f

include arrangements for securing that assistance in relation to the matters mentioned in subsection (1) of this section is provided by persons other than the Secretary of State.

3

The payments for which arrangements under this section may provide—

a

shall include the payment to a person by the Secretary of State of an allowance pending a time when payments will be or may be made to that person in respect of his use of facilities which will be or may be made available to him under any such arrangements;

b

shall not include the payment of any such allowance to a person—

i

for any period after that person has attained the age of eighteen years; or

ii

for any period for which child benefit is payable in respect of that person;

and

c

shall not include any payment by any person to the Secretary of State, other than a payment for publications issued in pursuance of the arrangements, in respect of the seeking or obtaining for that person of any employment under a contract of service or apprenticeship.

F2C43A

Without prejudice to subsection (2)(f) of this section, the Secretary of State may wholly or partly perform his duty under subsection (1) of this section in relation to Scotland by authorising or directing Scottish Enterprise or Highlands and Islands Enterprise to act on his behalf—

a

in the making of arrangements under this section in such cases or for such purposes as may be specified in or determined under the authorisation or direction;

b

in the taking of such steps for the purposes of, or in connection with, the carrying out of any arrangements under this section (including any made otherwise than by Scottish Enterprise or Highlands and Islands Enterprise) as may be so specified or determined,

and the power under this subsection to give authorisations or directions shall include power to revoke or vary any authorisation or direction so given.

3B

Where Scottish Enterprise or Highlands and Islands Enterprise make arrangements under this section in pursuance of an authorisation or direction made by the Secretary of State under subsection (3A)(a) above, they shall, at such times as the Secretary of State may require, report to him what provision, if any, they have included in those arrangements in relation to disabled persons.

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5

No payments shall be made by or on behalf of the Secretary of State by virtue of any power conferred by this section, other than payments under section 11(3) or 12(4) of this Act, unless the Treasury have approved—

a

the amounts of the payments or the manner of determining those amounts; and

b

the terms on which they are made or the manner of determining those terms.

6

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