Mr. Haslehurstasked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he has yet received from the Manpower Services Commission a report on the outcome of the review that the commission has been conducting into the operation of skillcentres.
Mr. TebbittThe Government have endorsed the Manpower Services Commission's proposal that it should implement the main recommendations of its recent review of skillcentres. Copies of the report of the review are being distributed to those who were consulted in the course of the review, and copies have also been placed in the Library.
The principal recommendations involve changes which will improve the way skillcentres are managed and organised. By April 1983 the main framework of a separate skillcentre organisation, to be called the skillcentre training agency, will be established within the commission. The agency will put its operations by stages on to a full trading account basis by April 1984.
We believe that the new arrangements will pose a challenge for skillcentre staff at all levels, but that, if the review's recommendations are pursued vigorously, then skillcentres can have a secure and continuing place as important providers of training.