§ Mr. Richard Wainwrightasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list in the Official Report all the regional grants, incentives, premiums and similar schemes operated by his Department in the last five years, indicating the dates of introduction and where necessary the dates of termination of these schemes.
§ Mr. GoldingThe regional employment premium, which is payable to 175W employers in respect of establishments engaged in manufacturing and situated in development areas, was introduced in September 1967 and is still current.
Between 1964 and September 1973, training schemes provided grants to: (1) Industrial training boards towards the capital cost of additional off-the-job training places in assisted areas for apprentices and adults; (2) Firms towards the cost of training in assisted areas (a) additional apprentices, (b) workers for new jobs, (c) workers over 45 years of age and (d) workers who would otherwise have been discharged as redundant. No fresh applications were accepted after September 1973 when these schemes were superseded by the national schemes of assistance to training in industry which are now provided by the Training Services Agency.
In the training field, regional, as distinct from national, incentives now current provide free to firms in assisted areas the following services for which charges are made in non-assisted areas:
- (1) Training of instructors in TSA centres;
- (2) Training of supervisors and foremen under the training within industry scheme;
- (3) Sponsored training at skillcentres which includes conversion training, training in additional skills, upgrading training and training for limited skills;
- (4) Provision by TSA of mobile instructors for in-plant training. These free services have been available throughout the last five years.
The Department and latterly the Employment Service Agency currently
(£ million) Financial Year Northern Merseyside Regional Area South West
Wales Scotland 1971–72 … … 62 42 4 30 77 1972–73 … … 52 34 4 24 67 1973–74 … … 52 33 3 25 63 1974–75 … … 62 37 4 31 79 1975–76 … … 70 40 4 34 86 The estimated value at 1976–77 prices of grants paid towards the cost of training employees in assisted areas under the various schemes current up to September 1973 is given below. Although fresh awards ceased as from September 1973, payments continued up to 1975. A regional break-down of these figures is 176W operate and have operated throughout the last five years the following schemes which provide financial assistance towards the cost of transfer of workers beyond daily travelling distance of their homes:
(1) Key workers scheme for workers transferred to key posts in establishments which their employers are setting up or expanding in assisted areas;
(2) Nucleus labour force scheme for workers recruited by employers for new or expanded establishments in high un employment areas who are temporarily transferred to the parent factory for training;
(3) Employment transfer scheme for unemployed workers and those under notice of redundancy. This is not primarily a regional scheme but, where moves originate in assisted areas, enhanced rehousing grants are payable to workers moving dependants to un furnished accommodation and a disturbance allowance is payable to workers without dependants. Workers whose moves originate in non-assisted areas have to satisfy additional eligibility conditions.
§ Mr. Richard Wainwrightasked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the total value, at August 1976 prices, of the assistance granted to each region of the United Kingdom, under his Department's special regional schemes, in each of the last five years.
§ Mr. GoldingAt 1976–77 prices the value of the regional employment premiums paid in the last five years is estimated as:
not available and could be produced only at unreasonable cost.
177W
Financial Year (£ million) 1971–72 … … … 11 1972–73 … … … 12 1973–74 … … … 17 1974–75 … … … 13 1975–76 … … … 4 The value of the training services provided free in assisted areas is not readily available for each of the past five years but estimates of the cost of providing these services in 1975–76 were:
£ (1) training of instructors 64,000 (2) training within industry scheme 575,000 (3) sponsored training in skillcentres 236,000 (4) provision of mobile instructors 94,000 Expenditure on transference schemes is accounted for as a whole and the estimated value at 1976–77 prices of the total national expenditure on these schemes is given below. The bulk of this expenditure relates to the employment transfer scheme and an estimate of the value of the more favourable conditions applicable to transfers originating in assisted areas is not possible at a reasonable cost.
Financial Year (£ millions) 1971–72 … … … 3 1972–73 … … … 8 1973–74 … … … 8 1974–75 … … … 6 1975–76 … … … 7