Training for Work (Hansard, 13 March 1995)

§ 2. Mr. Rowlands
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on the future funding and arrangements for training for work in 1995–96.

§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales (Mr. Rod Richards)
Training for work will be funded from 1 April on the basis of results, instead of training weeks completed.
Training and enterprise councils have welcomed this change. They will, as a result, have a strong incentive to ensure that training for work is geared to qualifications and jobs; and the resources available for adult training will therefore be used more efficiently and effectively.

§ Mr. Rowlands
Is the Minister aware that the training element has been reduced to a mere two weeks? Companies that employ for temporary or seasonal work can clean up on grants while offering minimum training. I believe that it is possible for a department store to train its Father Christmas for a couple of weeks, hire him for a couple of weeks and then sack him, and thereafter claim £1,000 in grant under the new scheme. Other organisations that have been trying to undertake longer-term training are shutting down or contracting. If my worries, concerns and fears are true, will the Minister review the scheme?

§ Mr. Richards
As far as I am aware, there are no current training schemes for Father Christmases. The hon. Gentleman has raised a serious point and it would be helpful if he were to write to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State outlining precisely what he has in mind. If he wants to put the boot into Father Christmas, he should write to my right hon. Friend, who will consider what he has to say.

§ Sir Wyn Roberts
Is my hon. Friend satisfied that the training and enterprise councils can, and do, combine the roles of training and enterprise? Is he satisfied that a sufficiently high proportion of the TEC budget is finding its way to the sharp end?

§ Mr. Richards
My right hon. Friend makes a valid point, as, indeed, is his wont. Clearly, the purpose of funding is that it goes to the sharp end, to get people back to work and to ensure that they are qualified. Training is necessary to ensure that enterprise is allowed to flourish.

§ Mr. Win Griffiths
What was the outcome of the scheme in England which the Secretary of State said was successful? Is it not true that it was more difficult for women returning to work, and low achievers, to get on training courses because of the huge over-emphasis on 545 training success and job outcomes? Is there a case for rebalancing that, so that we can drive the cowboys out, still keep quality and go for the best in Wales?

§ Mr. Richards
The pilot schemes in England to which the hon. Gentleman referred took place over some two years. It is because of their success that we are now embarking on the schemes in Wales. Of course we are concerned with quality, and the National Council for Vocational Qualifications is charged with ensuring that awarding bodies assess properly and that quality assurances exist.