§ Mr. BurnsTo ask the Secretary of Stale for Employment (1) if he will make a statement about the assistance being provided through his Department to help defence-related industries in the Chelmsford parliamen-tary constituency to retrain staff in non-defence-related fields;
(2) if he will make a statement about the assistance being provided by his Department to help redundant defence-related workers in the Chelmsford parliamentary constituency find alternative employment in (a) defence-related and (b) non-defence-related industries.
§ Mr. Michael Forsyth[holding answer 5 July 1993]: I fully understand my hon. Friend's concerns about the needs of those affected by changes in the defence industries. Through the training and enterprise councils and the Employment Service, the Department funds a broad range of programmes to help these people.
The Government will participate fully in the new European Community KONVER initiative, designed to assist areas affected by the decline in the defence industry. Some £5 million has been allocated to the United Kingdom under the European social fund to assist through training and re-training. This assistance will be available throughout the United Kingdom without geographical restriction.
200WThe precise allocation of these new funds is yet to be decided, but they will be directed towards those parts of the country where the need is greatest. Details of how the scheme will operate in the United Kingdom will be made available by the end of July.