Coal Mining Communities (Hansard, 3 November 1992)

§ 3. Mr. Wareing
To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if it remains her policy to maintain the real value of the funds of the training and enterprise councils in addition to those announced by her right hon. Friend, the President of the Board of Trade, to assist coal mining communities.

§ Mr. Michael Forsyth
An announcement about overall resources for training and enterprise councils for future financial years will be made after my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer announces this year's public expenditure settlement.

§ Mr. Wareing
Does the Minister agree that if the Government are claiming to go for economic growth, that claim can never be reconciled with any cut in the training and enterprise budget? Is it not a fact that the Secretary of State is currently battling to maintain the budget even at its present level and that if she fails, as I understand is likely, she will resign?

§ Mr. Forsyth
No is the answer to both parts of that supplementary question. The hon. Gentleman should realise, for example, from the point of view of l6-year-olds, that during the last Parliament the numbers staying on at school went up from just under half to nearly two thirds.

§ Mr. Wareing
I was asking about cuts.

§ Mr. Forsyth
The hon. Gentleman cannot argue that money should be spent on school provision as well as on training—[Interruption.] The Government have created an opportunity for our young people to be involved in full-time education, in training or in employment. The hon. Gentleman should recognise that.

§ Mr. Richards
Will the Minister confirm that the money set aside for the mining communities is, indeed, new money?

§ Mr. Forsyth
The package announced by my right hon. Friend provides for£75 million to be available, should closures take place, to the communities affected. That money will be administered and co-ordinated through the training and enterprise councils concerned.

§ Mr. Dobson
Why are the Government cutting back on help for the unemployed when thousands are being thrown on the dole every week? Is the explanation madness or badness?

§ Mr. Forsyth
Never has such a wide range of measures and resources been committed to help the unemployed to get back to work. The measures include training and job clubs and a whole range of other services. I totally repudiate the hon. Gentleman's supplementary question, which does not take account of the splendid work being done by the Employment Service throughout the country to help Britain back to work.