§ 11. Mr. McLoughlinTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if any representations have been made to him by Derbyshire county council on the employment training scheme; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. NichollsDerbyshire county council wrote to my right hon. Friend in April setting out its opposition to employment training. I regret that negative attitude, but I am glad to say that we now have all the training places needed in the area.
§ Mr. McLoughlinWill my hon. Friend be careful not to take any strictures from Derbyshire county council? Is he aware that it has just undertaken one of the most expensive job training schemes ever announced, in that it appointed as its chief executive a former Labour Member of Parliament at £46,000 a year? He had no training for the job and he had to resign. Does my hon. Friend think that the attitude of Derbyshire county council, if it spread to a national level, would do anything at all to help the people of this country?
§ Mr. NichollsMy hon. Friend is right. If one looks at the attitude of that authority, one sees an attitude to the training of the long-term unemployed that is thoroughly reprehensible. I dare say that my hon. Friend has it in mind that when the Leader of the Opposition belatedly came out in favour of employment training, he was joined by the hon. Member for Oldham, West (Mr. Meacher), who was quoted the next day as saying that if, in fact, the TUC came out against employment training it would send the wrong message to the unemployed—indeed, it did. The message that it sent them was a slap in the face.