§ 29. Mr. Cledwyn Hughesasked the Secretary of State for Employment what additional provision for training and retraining and for skillcentres he proposes for Gwynedd.
§ Mr. Harold WalkerThe Manpower Services Commission informs me that the Training Services Agency has recently reviewed the training needs of Gwynedd. There are at present no plans for a skill-centre to be established there but the Agency is developing training in a wide range of trades in colleges of further education and employers' establishments in the area.
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§ 33. Mr. Gwilym Robertsasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give details of the numbers of young men and women separately who are in receipt of training awards and similar assistance provided by the Training Services Agency; what estimates are available for the proportions of these totals who would otherwise have been on the unemployment register; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Harold WalkerThe training awards and other special schemes introduced this year by the Manpower Services Commission, with the assistance of the Exchequer Funds, enabled Industrial Training Boards and Industry to make available 26,850 additional long-term training places in industry for young people.
By 18th November 1975, 22,750 training awards and grants had been offered to industry and by the New Year it is expected that almost all awards and grants will be taken up.
Information is not readily available in respect of young men and women separately who are in receipt of a training award or benefiting from an additional training place offered as a result of special grants. It is not possible to estimate the proportions of these totals who would otherwise have been unemployed but for the introduction of special measures by the Commission assisted by Exchequer Funds. It can be said that these schemes have encouraged industry to recruit a higher number of apprentices and other trainees. It can be assumed that without these schemes the majority of beneficiaries would either have been unemployed or working on jobs offering little or no training for skill.