§ Mr. Greyasked the Secretary of State for Industry, Trade and Regional Development what proportion of expenditure under the Local Employment Act has been allocated for the purpose of helping firms expanding in development districts with the cost of training new skills.
§ Mr. D. PriceGrants in respect of exceptional expenditure, including additional training costs, incurred by firms establishing themselves in development districts may be made under Section 4 of the Local Employment Act, 1960. Grants offered to date account for 9 per cent. of the total assistance offered under that Section. As the grants are not appropriated to specific items of expenditure, I cannot say how much has been allocated for the cost of training.
§ Mr. Greyasked the Secretary of State for Industry, Trade and Regional Development what steps have been taken since 1960 to encourage applications from firms expanding in development districts for assistance with additional training costs.
§ Mr. D. PriceFrequent publicity is given to the various kinds of assistance available under the Local Employment Acts, including grants under Section 4 which may be made in respect of additional training costs. My regional officers work in close co-operation with the Ministry of Labour regional officers in assisting firms to establish themselves or expand in development districts and wherever appropriate the training facilities available are pointed out to such firms.