§ Mr. Ralph Howellasked the Secretary of State for Employment what arrangement he proposes to make for agricultural training in the light of his decisions about training boards generally which he announced on 8th August, 1972.
§ Mr. Chichester-ClarkIt was recognised in "Training for the Future" that the arrangements for training in agriculture required separate consideration in the of the particular needs and characteristics of the industry. It was the unanimous view of the industry in its representations to the Government that agricultural training should be organised 83W outside the scope of a national training agency. After considering all the views expressed I propose, with the agreement of my colleagues concerned, that when new arrangements for industrial boards come into effect in 1974 the Agricultural Training Board should be reconstituted under separate statutory authority and brought within the responsibility of the Agricultural Ministers. Arrangements would be made to ensure co-ordination with the Governments' training policies as a whole and also to strengthen relationships with the Education Service. At the same time the present arrangements for financing agricultural training would be recast with the aim of providing treatment generally comparable with that of boards under the Training Services Agency.
Detailed arrangements to give effect to these proposals will be worked out in discussion with the interests concerned.