§ 6.0 p.m.
§ LORD SHEPHERDMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the question standing in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Faringdon.
§ [The question was as follows:
§ To ask His Majesty's Government, how many ex-Service men are now receiving instruction at training centres, and how many who have applied for such instruction have not yet been accommodated; what proportion of these applicants are above 30 years of age, and whether they can give any estimate of the length of time that they will have to wait before beginning their courses.]
LORD PAKENHAMMy Lords, 24,079 ex-Servicemen are now receiving instruction under the Government Vocational Training Scheme, and 29,190 have been accepted and are awaiting allocation to training. The information as to the number of the latter over thirty years of age is not readily available, but it is probably about one-third of the total. The length of time an applicant may have to wait for training depends on the trade he selects, and may vary from a few weeks in the case of some of the building trades, for which large numbers of men are required., to several months in the case of trades for which the numbers required at present are strictly limited.