§ Mr. Alexander W. Lyonasked the Secretary of State for Employment whether the cut of £9.8 million in funding to industrial training boards and other bodies will lead to a reduction in the number of apprenticeships available.
§ Mr. Jim LesterI am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that it is not possible at the present time to say what effect, if any, the cuts will have on the number of apprenticeships available.
The industrial training boards have been given wide discretion by the MSC to apply the cuts in ways least damaging to their training objectives and are currently considering how this may best be done. In the case of other bodies, the effect of the cuts on the number of apprenticeships available in the non-ITB sector is likely to be minimal. MSC has emphasised its continuing support for the training for skills programme, which has the maintenance of adequate apprentice training as one of its principal objectives.