Employment Training (Hansard, 6 November 1989)

§ 11. Mr. Ray Powell
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what number of males and females were employed on a part-time basis and on employment training for the past 12 months.

§ Mr. Peter Walker
In June this year 197,000 females were estimated to be employed in Wales on a part-time basis, an increase of 8,000 on the June 1988 figure. Comparable figures for male part-time employment are not available. Over the past 12 months, 24,894 males and 10,168 females have started employment training in Wales.

§ Mr. Powell
Is the Secretary of State aware that since the abolition of the community programme training schemes, the ET schemes have failed to keep pace with the number of people employed on the CP schemes? What can the Secretary of State offer the people of Wales in terms of real training and real jobs? He said that male part-time employment figures are not available, but will he tell me, the House and Wales where he stands on the issue of the part-time Sir Alan Walters who was sacked by the Prime Minister and on the question of the dispute between the Prime Minister and the ex-Chancellor of the Exchequer because that is what——

§ Mr. Speaker
Order. That is wide of the question.

§ Mr. Walker
As, I believe, the one Cabinet Minister who has no advisers, I have none of those problems. One of the most important aspects in developing training is the development of training and enterprise councils. I am pleased by the degree to which Glamorgan is giving the lead in that respect and I hope that the TECs will soon be in place doing important work.

§ Mr. Wigley
As one of the 38 full-time advisers to the Secretary of State in Wales, may I ask him whether he accepts that part-time and seasonal jobs often camouflage problems in areas that are heavily dependent on tourism? Will he therefore look sympathetically at grant applications for projects that are meant to extend part-time and seasonal jobs into full-time job opportunities?

§ Mr. Walker
Obviously, I would be reluctant to sack the hon. Gentleman—[Interruption.] That should do him damage. Any application will be considered on its merits.

§ Mrs. Fyfe
May I say first how pleased I am to join my sister and brother Celts this afternoon? Secondly, has the Minister any advice—part time or otherwise—on the appalling imbalance between the opportunities for men and women on employment training in Wales, and what is he doing about it?

§ Mr. Walker
I am glad that over the past two years there has been a substantial increase in the opportunities for female employment in Wales and I hope that that will continue.