§ Mr. Frank R. Whiteasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish in the Official Report such information as is available to him to compare the gross amount and the amount per head spent on industrial training and development for each of the last five years in the United Kingdom, France, Sweden, Japan, Germany and Italy.
§ Mr. Peter MorrisonFigures for spending by the manpower Services Commission on industrial training over the past five years, including spending foreseen in the current year, are as follows:
Year Gross expenditure (cash Prices) Expenditure per head of the labour force £ million £ 1978–79 385 15 1979–80 468 18 1980–81 579 22 1981–82 827 32 1982–83 1,142 44 In addition to this spending by the MSC, account also needs to be taken of the substantial vocational element in further and higher education, and direct expenditure on training by firms which is estimated to be roughly equal to total government spending on vocational education and training.
I regret that comparable figures are not readily available for the other countries listed.