§ Mr. Michael Heseltineasked the Minister of Labour (1) what plans he has for implementing the recommendation of the South-West Economic Planning Council appointed by his Government in 1965 that industrial training boards should give close attention to the needs of small towns which would have difficulty in raising an adequate quorum for group training on their own, contained in paragraph 463 of the Council's recent report;
(2) what steps he is taking to promote the special skills on which agriculture and horticulture are increasingly dependent in the South-West in accordance with the report of the South-West Economic Planning Council; and what steps the Agricultural Training Board is taking to consider the Region's training needs, especially in predominantly 339W rural areas as requested in paragraph 442 of the Council's recent report.
§ Mr. HattersleyThese recommendations will be considered together with others in the report. The Agricultural, Horticultural and Forestry Industry Training Board is developing its organisation to assess the future training needs of all parts of the country including the South West.