§ 1. Mr. Dobsonasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will consider meeting the total cost of ab initio training for British commercial airline pilots; what the estimated cost would be in each of the next five years; and what is the cost of the present arrangements over the last five years.
§ Mr. J. P. W. MallalieuNo. Training is primarily the responsibility of the prospective employer. There are too many variables to permit anything but a rough estimate of the cost to be made but over the next few years the cost is likely to be of the order of £2,000,000 per year. Over the past five years the Board of Trade contribution has amounted to £558,000 in total.