§ Mr. Michael McGuireasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give details of the grants that are available in the Skelmersdale New Town to employers who employ more apprentices than they would normally employ.
§ Mr. GoldingI am informed by the Manpower Services Commission thatper capia premium grants are available through the industrial training boards to employers who recruit additional young people for apprenticeships and other forms of extended training. The size of grant varies with the industry and type of training offered but is such as to make a substantial contribution to the total cost of training in the first year of employment. Grants are also available to employers willing to provide employment and continued training for training award holders and redundant apprentices whom it has not been possible to place through normal industry arrangements.
§ Mr. Michael McGuireasked the Secretary of State for Employment from what 559W source the estimates given in his parliamentary answers and statistics on the number of skilled, semi-skilled, unskilled and apprentices are drawn.
§ Mr. GoldingThis Department's employment and unemployment statistics do not provide comprehensive occupational analyses on a skill basis.
In the case of unemployment statistics, these are compiled by local offices of the Employment Service Agency and are analysed according to the Classification of Occupations and Directory of Occupational Titles (CODOT). Many of the occupations cannot be designated specifically as skilled, semi-skilled or unskilled, and it is consequently not practicable to divide the unemployed into these categories. Detailed information on an occupational basis for the numbers employed in engineering and related industries is provided by an annual sample survey; the data include particulars for certain craft occupations and apprentices. Another sample survey gives information annually about the total number of apprentices in manufacturing industry as a whole. Neither of these sample surveys can provide figures on a local basis.