HC Deb 26 April 1965 vol 711 cc17-8
15. Mrs. Renée Short

asked the Minister of Labour what plans he has for increased training facilities in management.

Mr. Gunter

I hope that management training will be substantially increased as a result of the work of the industrial training boards. Several of the boards have already given some consideration to this subject, as has the Central Training Council. Courses in management education are already available at many universities and technical colleges, and these courses will soon be augmented when the new Business Schools in London and Manchester start up.

Mrs. Short

Are not conservatism and lack of technical training generally in management, particularly in the smaller firms, holding back the increase in industrial potential which this country so urgently needs at this time?

Sir C. Osborne

Nonsense.—[HoN. MEMBERS: "Nonsense."]

Mrs. Short

Will my right hon. Friend, therefore, see that every encouragement is given to firms to send suitable candidates to take such courses, and will he undertake within his own Department a survey of the whole state of industrial management in this country?

Mr. Gunter

I fear that, at the end of her question, my hon. Friend asks us to undertake a gigantic task. We are, of course, aware of the defects in management. This is why the industrial training boards and the Central Training Council are treating the situation very much as an emergency in order to see how we can improve standards.

Sir C. Osborne

Although there are black spots in management, does not the Minister agree that smaller firms and industries could not continue to exist unless the management were good, and will the right hon. Gentleman repudiate the stupid suggestion made by his hon. Friend the Member for Wolverhampton, North-East (Mrs. Renée Short)?

Mr. Speaker

Order. It is not the Minister's function to do that.