HC Deb 14 March 1990 vol 169 cc292-3W
27. Mr. Rogers

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what is his Department's policy on the training of senior staff in the application of information technology.

80. Mr. Buckley

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what is his Department's policy on the training of senior staff in the application of information technology.

Mr. Forth

The Department's policy is to ensure that sufficient training on the application of information technology is available to meet departmental needs. To this end, a great deal of training on and about IT is available for all departmental staff, incuding senior members.

50. Ms. Short

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations he has had from the information technology sector on the subject of skill shortages.

Mr. Forth

There have been representations from the information technology sector in the past with regard to IT skills shortages. My Department supports a number of programmes aimed at increasing skills in this sector.

33. Mr. Buchan

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations he has had from the information technology sector on the subject of skill shortages.

Mr. Forth

There have been representations from the information technology sector in the past with regard to IT skills shortages. In recognising this, my Department announced support of up to £440,000 over three years for the recently launched Women into Information Technology (WIT) campaign, where this support is appropriately matched by industry. My Department supports a programme aimed at stimulating the production of distance learning video courses on subjects directly relating to skills in micro-electronics, information technology, and their applications. Support is also being given to an industry-further education collaborative programme aimed at producing interactive video courses relating in the main to IT skills.

My Department also has an Information Technology Advisory Board (ITAB) with representatives from industry commerce, and academia. One of ITAB's support committees advises specifically on education and training and comments on IT skills issues.