§ 18. Mr. Leslie Huckfieldasked the Secretary of State for Employment whether, in order to reduce public expenditure, he will now introduce legislation to revert to the levy system for future operations and financing of training boards.
§ Mr. Harold WalkerNo, Sir. My hon. Friend will be aware that, notwithstanding the provisions of the Employment and Training Act 1973, a substantial part of the financial commitments of the industrial training boards will continue to be met from levy.
The responsibility for ensuring that the new training arrangements under the Act work effectively lies with the Manpower Services Commission, which was set up on 1st January this year. If experience shows that the new arrangements require adjustments I have no doubt that the commission will inform me in due course. We shall be considering with the commission the position regarding the longer-term training objectives envisaged in the 400W Labour Party's election manifesto concerned with the right of redundant workers to retraining.