Mr. John D. TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what reductions he proposes to make in respect of ACE funding; and what considerations underlie their magnitude. [11107]
§ Mr. AncramResponsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Training and Employment Agency under its chief executive, Mr. Ian Walters. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Ian Walters to Mr. John D. Taylor, dated 23 January 1996:
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has asked me as Chief Executive of the Training and Employment Agency to reply to your questions about the Action for Community Employment (ACE) programme.The situation regarding the level of reduction in next year's ACE budget and the considerations underlining their magnitude remain as I outlined in my letter to you of 16 January. As I indicated, the reduction in the ACE budget was set against a background of the encouraging performance of the Northern Ireland economy which includes the creation of almost 11,000 additional jobs in the year ending September 1995 and a reduction of 5,500 in the number of people unemployed for more than 1 year.