HC Deb 03 May 1988 vol 132 cc713-5
7. Mr. Ron Davies

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what training initiatives his Department currently supports specifically for rural areas.

Mr. Nicholls

Our training programmes are available nationally to all those who are eligible, irrespective of where they live. The planning and delivery arrangements ensure that all programmes respond to particular local needs.

Mr. Davies

Has the Minister considered the particular problems that will be faced by those who are eligible for the new employment training scheme in rural areas, particularly as a result of the high cost of transport? If the scheme is not to become a conscript scene in the countryside, does the Minister accept that it must be made more attractive? One way of doing that would be to abolish the £5 travelling cost threshold and at least make all travelling costs free for the applicant.

Mr. Nicholls

I appreciate the hon. Gentleman's point. Under the new training programme, travelling costs in excess of £5will be met. I hope the hon. Gentleman agrees that that is a proper way to proceed. In view of the economic climate generally, and, indeed, the various training programmes that are available, I am sure that he would wish to point out that such programmes have already been particularly successful in his constituency. In the year to March 1988 unemployment fell by 19 per cent. and in the year to January 1988 the number of people under 25 out of work for more than six months fell by 34 per cent. I know how much the hon. Gentleman will welcome that, and I join him in doing so.

Sir John Farr

With the complete change in agriculture and its outlook for the future, will my hon. Friend look into the prospect of modernising the youth training scheme in so far as it affects agriculture and the changing face of the business?

Mr. Nicholls

I am certainly very much aware that YTS has played a major part in the agriculture industry, as it has elsewhere. However, it is fair to point out that nothing is ever set in tablets of stone. If schemes and training can be improved, those are obviously matters that we tend to consider. I can give my hon. Friend an assurance that improving the quality of training is constantly borne in mind.

Mr. Sheerman

I realise that the Minister is an expert on rural unemployment, but is he not concerned about trends that are occuring in youth training in rural and other areas? I had evidence only today of a scheme run by a manufacturer in Wiltshire, which is offering £92 a week to young people with no training to come into the industry. Is the Minister aware that that will mean the collapse of youth training in this country, with young people at the age of 16 again going into occupations with no future, training or prospects? What does he propose to do about that collapse?

Mr. Nicholls

I am pleased to hear the hon. Gentleman's tacit, if not explicit, support for training programmes in general, and the adult training programme in particular. It should be pointed out that not so many years ago, as a result of the policies of the Labour Government, there would not have been even unskilled jobs for people to go into, because unemployment was rising. At present, it is falling. Even if the hon. Gentleman is a late convert to the Government's policies, the sinner who has repented is welcome.

Mr. Harris

Will my hon. Friend confirm that in the county of Cornwall unemployment in rural development areas has fallen by 2.9 per cent in 12 months, which is the third largest drop in any English county? Following his visit to Cornwall on Friday, does my hon. Friend agree that the two biggest drawbacks that we face in dealing with unemployment—because the economy is now picking up—are first, a shortage of industrial land, and, secondly, the demand for more skill training?

Mr. Nicholls

I am sure that my hon. Friend is right. It needs to be stressed repeatedly that the new adult training programme has a vital role to play and that it deserves support from both sides of the House. As we both come from country constituencies, we have the advantage of knowing what we are talking about.