HC Deb 18 February 1975 vol 886 c1084
1. Mr. Guy Barnett

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he can now say when the training centre planned for Deptford will be built.

The Under-Secretary of State for Employment (Mr. Harold Walker)

The Manpower Services Commission informs me that discussions are still taking place with the local planning authorities concerned. There is nothing I can add to the reply which I gave to my hon. Friend on 11th December 1974.—[Vol. 883, c. 167–8.]

Mr. Barnett

Is my hon. Friend aware that this is an entirely unsatisfactory situation? Does he appreciate that there is no skillcentre in any of the four South-East London boroughs? Does he realise that it is an area of high demand for skilled labour because it is an old traditional engineering and industrial area? What will he do to speed things up to ensure that this vital need on the part of industry in South-East London is satisfied quickly?

Mr. Walker

I share the anxiety of my hon. Friend. There is a need to make more rapid progress with the development of the site. I know that the Training Services Agency shares our anxiety. I am sure my hon. Friend knows that it is a difficult site to develop because of the number of planning authorities involved and because of the intersection of waterways. There are training centres and skillcentres which provide a service covering the area to which my hon. Friend has referred. I refer particularly to those in Enfield and Waddon and to the annexe at Sydenham. I share my hon. Friend's anxiety that we should make progress, and I will draw the attention of the planning authorities to his remarks.