38. Mr. G. Roberts askedthe Minister of Fuel and Power to what extent training facilities for new recruits to the coalmining industry are being expanded; what is the present capacity of these facilities; what is the expansion programme; and what number of recruits to the industry the National Coal Board will be able to accept in the month of April.
§ Mr. ShinwellThe weekly intake capacity of the five residential Centres operated by the Ministry of Labour on behalf of the National Coal Board has already been expanded on a four-week basis from about 300 to 410 and will be raised to about 630 in the course of the next 10 weeks. These numbers will be increased by about one-third as a result of the temporary reduction in the training period from four weeks to three. The Board are also themselves providing additional facilities for training adult entrants at their non-residential Centres, which have in the past few weeks been32W absorbing juvenile entrants at the rate of 400 per week and inexperienced adults at the rate of over 500 per week. There is no reason, so far as training is concerned, why the Board should be unable in April to deal with the same high rate of recruitment as in March, which averaged 2,540 per week.