§ 38. Mr. Hardyasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many persons are currently engaged in retraining and the number so engaged three years ago.
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§ Mr. Harold WalkerI am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that the information is as follows:
Number of people undergoing retraining under the Training Opportunities Scheme (formerly Vocational Training Scheme) and date 31st December 1975 35,040 11th December 1972 17,787 Because of the incidence of the end of term at colleges of further education in December the numbers in training are temporarily depressed. 41,816 people were receiving training under TOPS on 30th November 1975.
§ 40. Mr. Frank R. Whiteasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement about the Government's provisions for an expansion of training and retraining and the numbers undergoing training in the Training Opportunities Scheme.
§ Mr. Harold WalkerI am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that there are currently 58 skillcentres and 28 annexes in operation, providing over 16,500 training places. Plans for a further 14 skillcentres and four annexes have been approved in the expansion programme up to 1979 which, together with the planned rebuilding of some existing centres, is expected to provide a total skillcentre capacity of 20,000 places.
The Training Services Agency intends to increase the use of spare capacity in colleges of further education to provide
Date Number of operational training places at skillcentres Number in training Number of completions during year ended date in column (1) (1) (2) (3) (4) 31st December 1973 … … 13,287 10,070 16,897 31st December 1974 … … 14,093 10,624 17,117 31st December 1975 … … 14,543 12,074 18,737 During 1978, four skillcentres and three skillcentre annexes are due to open, with provision of 762 training places. It is expected that about 80,000 people will complete courses of training in 1976, including about 24,000 at skillcentres and 45,000 at colleges of further education.