§ Mr. Ralph Howellasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish figures, for the latest dates available, comparing the number of people in each of the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Sweden who were (a) undergoing vocational training or retraining and (b) were also in receipt of a Government-financed training allowance.
§ Mr. Jim LesterI am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that the latest figures available on a comparable basis of the numbers undergoing 295W vocational training relate to the year 1975 and are as follows:
United Kingdom France Germany Population undergoing vocational training 1,487,500 1,497,300 1,723,400 Percentage of total population between 14 and 65 undergoing vocational training 4.2 per cent. 4.6 per cent. 4.3 per cent. Data on the number of these who were also in receipt of a Government-financed training allowance are not available.
Comparable figures for Sweden are not immediately available, but if they can be obtained I shall write to my hon. Friend.