§ Mrs. Ewingasked the Minister of Labour how many persons over 45 years of age in Scotland have been accepted for industrial retraining boards situated in Scotland.
§ Mr. Hattersley:I assume that the hon. Lady's Question relates to Government Training Centres. At the end of last 641W year 73 (8 per cent.) of the 919 trainees at Scottish Centres were over 45 years of age.
§ Mrs. Ewingasked the Minister of Labour if he will give an assurance that retraining facilities in Scotland will be available for every single worker fit to take advantage of them who is made redundant by Government action in the running down of the nationalised industries in Scotland.
§ Mr. Hattersley:Accelerated training for skill is available to redundant workers who want and are suitable for it at eight Government Training Centres in Scotland. A ninth centre is planned to open at Bellshill in North Lanarkshire this summer.
The retraining of redundant workers at semi-skilled level is best undertaken by their new employers with financial assistance from the Industrial Training Boards and from the Government grants available to firms in development areas. The extent to which these facilities meet the needs of redundant workers will be kept under review.