§ Mr. Crawfordasked the Secretary of State for Employment what has been 506W the total cost of the advertising campaign carried out on behalf of industrial training boards by the Training Services Agency; and if he is satisfied with the results therefrom.
§ Mr. GoldingI am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that the cost of the advertising campaign carried out on behalf of industrial training boards by the Training Services Agency from October 1976 to March 1977 was £110,767.
The purposes of this advertising campaign, which was addressed to the senior management in British industry, were twofold: first, to persuade senior management to continue training, despite economic pressures, to ensure that it has cadres of highly skilled employees, the shortages of which have affected British industry for years, and continues even now in times of high unemployment; second, to support the important rôles of the industrial training boards, whose vertical structure obliges them to use their own comparatively narrow channels of communication.
Numerous responses to the campaign have been received from employers, employers' associations, trade unions and educational authorities; many, several weeks and even months after the original advertisements have appeared. All responses are actively followed up. From the responses received to date I am satisfied that the campaign is achieving its main purposes.
§ Mr. Crawfordasked the Secretary of State for Employment what has been the total cost of the advertising campaign in Scottish newspapers carried out on behalf of industrial training boards by the Training Services Agency.
§ Mr. GoldingI am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that the total cost of the advertising campaign in Scottish newspapers from October 1976 to December 1976 was £5,486. The purpose of using Scottish newspapers was to give regional emphasis in Scotland. In addition, national newspapers were used from October 1976 to mid-January 1977, and specialist magazines from October 1976 to March 1977, all of which have proportionately wide coverage to the selective audiences in Scotland.
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§ Mr. Crawfordasked the Secretary of State for Employment what further plans his Department has for advertising campaigns on behalf of industrial training boards by the Training Services Agency; and what the estimated cost of any further campaigns will be.
§ Mr. GoldingI am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that no further plans have been made by the Training Services Agency for an advertising campaign on behalf of the industrial training boards. The current campaign ends on 31st March. It will take some weeks to evaluate the overall results.