§ Mr. James Hamiltonasked the Minister of Labour when the rehabilitation centre at Bellshill will be ready for occupation; how many men will be retrained; what is expected to be the final cost; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. HattersleyThe Bellshill Industrial Rehabilitation Unit will open on 5th February 1968. The I.R.U. itself will not provide industrial training but between 600 and 700 men and women are expected to enter each year for short courses of industrial rehabilitation some216W in each year from 1963 to the latest convenient date.
§ Mr. FernyhoughThe employment estimates for Rutherglen and Cambuslang—which form comparatively small parts of large travel-to-work areas—are not precise enough to provide reliable measures of year-to-year changes.
Following are employment estimates for the Glasgow and North Lanarkshire travel-to-work areas, which include Rutherglen and Cumbuslang, respectively, and unemployment figures for Rutherglen and Cambuslang:
of which may lead to Training courses. I cannot give a final cost for the I.R.U. alone, because the Bellshill contract also includes a new Government Training Centre which is being built alongside the I.R.U., and is due to open later this year. When fully operational it will be able to produce about 350 trained men each year. The combined Centre and Unit are expected to cost about £450,000 to construct and £150,000 to equip.