§ 24. Mr. Penhaligonasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many apprenticeships were offered by the private engineering sector for 1972 and the latest year for which figures are available.
§ Mr. GoldingI am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that information on the number of apprenticeships offered is not available. However, I understand that, in the training year which commenced on 1st September 1972, 15,260 craft and technician trainees were registered with the Engineering Industry Training Board as carrying out approved first year off-the-job training and that the comparable figure for 1976 was 21,470. These figures relate to establishments in scope to the Engineering Industry Training Board and exclude central and local government and, for the most part, the nationalised industries.
In 1972 there were an additional 1,528 trainees sponsored by the Engineering Industry Training Board under its training award scheme and in 1976 an additional 3,008 award scheme trainees.