§ 36. Mr. Boyd-Carpenterasked the Minister of Labour why a man demobilised from the Services who takes the course in bricklaying, arranged by his Department, continues for five years to be treated as an apprentice and to receive only the wages of an apprentice.
§ Mr. IsaacsThe hon. Gentleman appears to have been misinformed. The bricklaying courses agreed with industry and in operation under the Vocational Training Scheme last, not for five years, but for 20 months, at the end of which time the trainee will be paid the full skilled rate.
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterIs it, then, a fact that for the full period of his training the man, regardless of his age and obligations, receives only the pay appropriate to an apprentice?
§ Mr. IsaacsNo, he receives the pay appropriate to this kind of apprenticeship in this scheme. The man goes into the training centre for six months. He gets intensive training there, then he goes out, and for 14 months is paid a special 2503 rate—something less than the craftsman's rate—and at the end of 20 months he gets the full rate. However, I am pleased to report that employers come to these training centres, and are so pleased with the results of the six months' intensive training, that many of them take men away and are prepared to put them on to the full rate straight away.