§ 68. Mr. PatchettTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether he has any plans to increase the number of apprenticeships; and if he will make a statement.
146WNorth-West constituency and (c) nationally moved into full-time employment at the conclusion of their training for each of the last available five years.
§ Mr. CopeThe information is not available in the form requested. Results for leavers from the northern region, the county of Durham and Great Britain, where available, are shown in the attached table. A substantial number of the remainder go into full-time education or training (16 per cent. in the northern region 1987–88).
§ Mr. CopeIt is for employers primarily to ensure the level of apprenticeship training that their industry needs. The Government encourage them to adopt cost-effective practices, in particular training to standards instead of wasteful timeserving, and also make a substantial contribution to support apprenticeship training through YTS.
The extension of YTS to a two-year scheme has increased the opportunities for all 16 and 17-year-old school leavers to benefit from the structured training and work experience previously only available to those undertaking formal apprenticeships.