§ 1. Mr. Peter Millsasked the Minister of Labour what training facilities exist in the South-West, and particularly in North Devon, to help overcome the problems of unemployment in this area.
§ Mr. MarshThere are training centres at Bristol and Gloucester and my right hon. Friend is setting up a further one at Plymouth. People from North Devon may go to any of our centres: they will be helped to find lodgings and paid a lodging allowance.
18. Mr. Mackenzieasked the Minister of Labour what plans he has for improving training facilities in the county of Lanark.
§ Mr. MarshA new Government Training Centre at Queenslie, Glasgow, which is expected to open in the autumn will provide additional training facilities for North Lanarkshire. The Motherwell Government Training Centre already serves Lanarkshire and the Hillington Government Training Centre does so to some extent.
§ 40. Mr. Merlyn Reesasked the Minister of Labour if he is satisfied with the training and retraining facilities from all sources in the Yorkshire and Humberside Planning Region; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. MarshMy right hon. Friend is considering what expansion should be undertaken of the Government training centres in the Yorkshire and Humberside region and in other parts of the country, but he is not yet in a position to make a statement. The region will benefit in due course from the increase in training facilities generally which it is one purpose of the Industrial Training Act to provide.
§ Mr. Bostonasked the Minister of Labour what training facilities exist in Kent, in particular covering the Faversham constituency area, to help overcome the unemployment problems of the area.
§ Mr. MarshMy right hon. Friend is intending to establish a Government2W Training Centre in the Medway Towns which would be within daily travelling distance of the Faversham constituency area, but as I said in reply to my hon. Friend's Oral Question today, we are having considerable difficulty in finding a site.
§ Mr. Peter Millsasked the Minister of Labour how he proposes to help the hard core of unemployment in North Devon: and what proportion of those unemployed persons could be trained if given the facilities.
§ Mr. MarshThe areas of Bideford and Ilfracombe Employment Exchanges are development districts where the full benefits of the Local Employment Acts and "free depreciation" are available. In addition, financial assistance towards the cost of training additional labour is obtainable, under the Employment and Training Act, by firms moving into or expanding their existing businesses in development districts. Firms within reasonable travel to work distance of the development districts may also be considered for such assistance to the extent that they provide additional work for people living in these districts. People in North Devon as elsewhere can be considered for training under the Government Training Scheme, and our officers are always concerned to bring these opportunities to the notice of unemployed persons. 41 applications for training were received in the twelve months ending 12th May, 1965, from the areas covered by the Barnstaple, Bideford and Ilfracombe Exchanges, of which 18 were accepted, 17 rejected and 6 withdrawn.