§ Mr. Eggarasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list those functions or parts of his Department which he has transferred, or is in the process of transferring, to the private sector.
§ Mr. TebbitA good deal of the training opportunities programme is already contracted out, mainly to colleges of further education but partly to private establishments and individual employers, and the balance of provision is kept under review. The youth opportunities programme is also contracted out in so far as individual schemes are operated by sponsors, the majority of whom are private employers. This will also be the case with the new youth training scheme, which will also make substantial use of private sector "managing agencies" to administer the scheme.
The Health and Safety Executive has made some progress in contracting out certification and approval work in health and safety and the Health and Safety Commission has recently published a consultative document on proposals which would place a greater reliance on manufacturers and users themselves to ensure that equipment was approved by appropriate outside bodies, which would have the same effect. The Department of Employment group as a whole contracts out a substantial proportion of its research.
Some 70 per cent. of cleaning services in the group are now undertaken on a contract basis. Changes are planned over the next 12 months which will increase this to about 80 per cent.