Construction Industry Training Board

HC Deb 27 February 1973 vol 851 cc1269-70

13. Mr. Robert Taylor

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what was the approximate state of indebtedness of the Construction Industry Training Board at 1st February 1973.

Mr. Chichester-Clark

On 1st February 1973 £2,144,000 was outstanding against the loan of £8 million made by the Department to the board following an early repayment of £3 million in January 1973. I am pleased to say that the outstanding amount has been repaid since then and the debt is now cleared.

Mr. Taylor

I welcome that improvement in the cash flow, as forecast in the annual accounts. Is not this training board unique among industrial training boards in that the auditors found it necessary in the last annual accounts to point out that no allowance had been made for the grant due to be paid out of levy income? Will my hon. Friend instruct the board for the year ended 31st March 1973 to make clear the amount of grant which is due to be paid out of the levy income that is collected?

Mr. Chichester-Clark

My hon. Friend is incorrect in thinking that there is anything unusual about the way the accounts have been audited. He is assuming that grants to be paid out following the end of the board's financial year have to be funded from a levy already collected. This is not so. They are funded from a subsequent levy. My hon. Friend will find that the system is similar with other boards—from recollection, the Chemical Industry Training Board, the Petroleum Industry Training Board and the Ceramics Industry Training Board.

Mr. Heffer

Is not one of the problems that, because of the growth of labour-only subcontracting, there has been failure to collect the levy from about one-third of those involved in the industry? This is an absolute scandal. Should not part of the Government's policy be to tackle this question to overcome the problem, for example, of future apprentices coming into the industry?

Mr. Chichester-Clark

All these matters are taken into consideration. I am aware of the hon. Gentleman's particular interest in the matter which, as he said in the House recently, follows my interest. We must take all these matters into account, but they are not, as he knows, easy problems to tackle.

Mr. Idris Owen

Is my hon. Friend aware that there is a critical shortage of skilled labour in the construction industry, particularly in the stress areas? Is he also aware that as a result of that shortage labour is costing a considerable amount? May I ask him not to countenance any attempt to discourage a massive increase in training for skilled tradesmen in the construction industry?

Mr. Chichester-Clark

The answer is an emphatic "Yes, I agree."