§ 96. Dame Irene Wardasked the Minister of Labour the present position of the National Institute of Houseworkers.
§ Mr. Iain MacleodYes. The Government have decided to continue a small grant aid after the end of the current financial year. It will be of the order of £15,000 a year payable over a period of some years.
The purpose of this grant is to assist the general work of the Institute directed to the establishment of appropriate conditions of employment in domestic work and, in particular, to enable the Institute to become self-supporting as an examining body setting standards for those who wish to take domestic employment.
No part of the new grant will be available for maintaining the Institute's own courses of training in domestic work which, if continued, must be paid for out of the grants and bursaries made available by local education authorities and other organisations. So far as the Institute's present training centres are concerned, I understand that the local education authorities in Wales are already the main support of the Welsh centre, and that as a result of support from English Authorities the Institute intends to retain the English centre on a similar basis. In Scotland, the independent centre run by the Scottish Association for Homecraft Training will go on, and its students will continue to be eligible for the Institute diploma.
The Government recognise that the level of the future grant will of itself enable the Institute to operate only on a very limited scale. They appreciate the 200W value of the Institute's work and hope that other organisations interested in improving the standards of domestic employment will be encouraged by the Government's example to contribute towards the funds of the Institute.