§ Mr. Wrigglesworthasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will introduce a scheme of Government-sponsored apprenticeships to ensure there is no unused training capacity in industry while school leavers are unemployed and while there are shortages of skilled labour; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Harold WalkerThe responsibility for such matters is initially with the Manpower Services Commission. It is for238W that body to consider the need for special action, and it has already put forward contingency plans for dealing with high unemployment.
I am advised that there is at present no general need to mount special award schemes to provide apprenticeship training opportunities for unemployed school leavers. The commission is making financial support available to the Construction Industry Training Board to enable it to mount a limited award scheme which would provide for additional training opportunities for young people in development areas. Such schemes do not meet immediate shortages of skilled labour but assist with future supply. The Training Services Agency already makes use of under-utilised facilities in employers' training establishments and colleges of further education for providing places under its Training Opportunity Scheme (TOPS) and wider opportunity courses. In the event of further expansion or of any future need for special training measures it would look to unused training capacity in industry to assist with meeting new programmes.