HC Deb 04 April 1979 vol 965 cc795-9W
Mr. Younger

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will provide his estimate of the cost of training undertaken by each industrial training board in the current financial year, and each financial year since 1974–75; what has been the cost to public funds; and if he will also provide an estimate of the numbers of people who have received training under the auspices of each board in each of the financial years mentioned above.

Mr. Golding

I am informed by the Manpower Services Commisison that the

Transfer grant

  1. (i) for workers from non-assisted areas—£175.
  2. (ii) for workers from assisted areas—£575.
  3. (iii) for workers who have completed a course of training under the training opportunities scheme, and who are taking up their first job in the training trade within six months of completing the course—£800.

In addition, for an experimental period of one year from 1 January 1979, workers who are eligible for assistance under the employment transfer scheme, and who are filling specific skill shortage vacancies in certain industries, may receive an additional £500 premium. A pay limit, currently £5,220 per year, applies to the job search and ETS schemes, but not to the skill shortage experiment nor to the KWS.

Information about the numbers of people assisted is available only up to the quarter ended December 1978. The numbers assisted in the first three quarters of the financial year ending 31 March 1979 were as follows:

JOB SEARCH SCHEME

Fare to attend interviews—9,112.

Speculative temporary transfer—382.

Forward fare for workers not eligible for other employment transfer scheme assistance—5,673.

total cost of each industrial training board for training and the cost to public funds for each financial year from 1974–75 to 1977–78 and provisional figures of the cost to public funds in 1978–79 are as shown below.

The total cost of training in 1978–79 will not be known until the boards' accounts are presented later this year and particulars for the current year—1979–80—will not be available until next year. Information on the total number of people who have received training is not available.

Figure in £000
1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79
Board Total cost Cost to public funds Total cost Cost to public funds Total cost Cost to public funds Total cost Cost to public funds Total cost Cost to public funds (provisional)
Air transport and travel … … 3,666 26 913 807 1,787 1,661 1,737 1,690 1,680
Carpet … … 482 * 586 121 751 132 688 168 180
Ceramics, glass and mineral products … … 4,035 25 3,680 1,086 3,995 1,245 4,467 1,574 1,510
Chemical and allied products … … 7,154 9 1,359 1,181 2,478 2,312 3,046 2,999 3,480
Clothing and allied products … … 1,956 96 2,628 625 3,348 931 3,998 1,119 1,160
Construction … … 11,780 754 23,270 6,760 24,974 9,742 31,110 13,847 14,670
Cotton and allied textiles … … 1,902 43 1,586 593 1,639 661 2,047 1,067 990
Distributive … … 12,010 62 15,299 2,708 20,397 4,022 22,259 5,811 6,880
Engineering … … 82,283 727 29,063 10,658 37,834 18,951 38,207 22,812 21,060
Food, drink and tobacco … … 3,059 11 4,010 1,533 4,400 2,425 4,330 2,529 2,910
Footwear, leather and fur skin … … 271 12 391 331 702 521 1,042 843 930
Foundry—industry training committee … … 2,812 21 3,899 928 4,658 1,295 5,472 1,456 1,540
Furniture and timber … … 3,455 24 2,903 736 5,225 1,371 6,374 1,804 1,950
Hotel and catering … … 3,249 — 6,101 2,019 7,188 2,301 8,130 2,612 2,800
Iron and steel … … 846 47 999 605 1,296 962 1,404 1,279 1,360
Knitting, lace and net … … 788 32 385 363 541 538 632 620 650
Man-made fibres producing … … 28 2 74 74 136 136 155 155 150
Paper and paper products … … 3,933 13 4,385 679 5,075 788 6,305 1,020 1,030
Petroleum … … 782 35 932 748 955 653 1,291 837 1,000
Printing and publishing … … 3,890 17 3,822 1,853 3,810 1,842 3,663 2,007 2,250
Road transport … … 17,741 2,374 22,906 8,595 29,607 12,661 33,867 13,730 13,930
Rubber and plastics processing … … 3,398 13 4,531 896 5,526 1,111 6,814 1,429 1,630
Shipbuilding … … 1,907 79 4,559 1,647 5,300 2,414 6,070 3,504 3,740
Wool, jute and flax … … 1,122 11 378 348 462 435 561 522 550
TOTAL … … 172,549 4,434 138,661 45,897 172,085 69,111 193,668 85,443 Not yet available 88,030
* Less than £500

Mr. Younger

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many staff are employed by each of the industrial training boards and how many field staff each operates.

Mr. Golding

I am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that the information requested is not readily available in the time available.