§ 111. Mr. Hoggasked the Minister of Works what is the proposed target for the Southern Region, and for the other regions of the country, of apprentices for stonemasons training under the National Apprenticeship Scheme; how many apprentices are actually under training; and whether he proposes to take any further steps to attract new skilled labour to this craft.
§ Mr. DurbinThe Building Apprenticeship and Training Council in their Third Report recommended that the Ministry should aim for the present at recruiting annually at least 1,000 mason apprentices, but beyond this national estimate the Council was unable to go. The total number of boys aged 14–21 in the category of masons (excluding monumental masons) at July, 1947, was 1,110. The Council has urged all local apprenticeship committees to try to reach this target. An Apprentice Master Scheme for masons has been instituted by the Department and the Ministry of Labour provide a vocational training scheme under which ex-Service men are trained in this craft.