§ Mr. Barry Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Employment when he proposes to lay orders before Parliament regarding the abolition of 16 industrial training boards; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Peter MorrisonI will reply to the hon. Member as soon as possible.
§ Mr. Barry Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list in the Official Report those statutory industrial training boards scheduled for abolition and indicate the number of training officers each industrial training board had in 1979, 1980, 1981 and February 1982; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Peter MorrisonThe following industrial training boards are scheduled for abolition:
- Air transport and travel;
- Carpet;
- Ceramics, glass and mineral products;
- Chemical and allied products;
- Cotton and allied textiles;
- Distributive;
- Food, drink and tobacco;
- Furniture and timber;
- Footwear, leather and fur skin;
- Iron and steel;
- Knitting, lace and net;
- Man-made fibres producing;
- Paper and paper products;
- Printing and publishing;
- Shipbuilding;
- Wool, jute and flax
Information on the number of "training officers" employed by each board is not readily available and could be obtained from the boards only at disproportionate cost.
§ Mr. Barry Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list his Department's criteria for those prospective voluntary bodies to take the place of those statutory industrial training boards which are scheduled for abolition; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Peter MorrisonWe have deliberately avoided setting specific requirements for the training organisations which are to replace statutory industrial training boards. The objective is that they should be capable of meeting the training needs of their industries, which are bound to vary, rather than conform to some rigid institutional model.
As a general rule, we expect non-statutory training organisations to set up adequate machinery to monitor the quantity of training to ensure that skill shortages do not 250W develop, to check that standards of training are being maintained and to keep those standards up to date to meet changing needs. The organisations should have the active support of their industries and should be appropriately financed and staffed.
We also expect non-statutory training organisations to work with the. trade union and educational interests. We will want to be sure that non-statutory training organisations will be able to play their part in implementing the objectives of the new training initiative.
§ Mr. Barry Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Employment (1) if he will publish in the Official Report a section progress report on the work so far completed by his Department regarding the setting up of voluntary training boards pursuant to his Department's policy of abolishing statutory industrial training boards; and if he will make a statement;
(2) how many voluntary associations are proposed in the industrial training board sphere to replace the 16 industrial training boards scheduled for abolition; how many voluntary associations have so far failed to satisfy the Manpower Services Commission and his Department in their first examination of the proposals of voluntary associations; how many are satisfactory; in which sector; if they are satisfactorily representative of the interests of trade unions employees; if staffing ratios are deemed sufficient; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Peter MorrisonOfficials of the Manpower Services Commission have had discussions with almost 100 employer organisations in industries where statutory training boards are to be abolished or reduced in scope. Whilst most employer organisations are making good progress towards setting up alternative arrangements, these are still subject to further detailed discussion with the commission and it is too early to make final judgments about their effectiveness.
It will be for my right hon. Friend to decide when alternative arrangements are adequate. We have made it clear that orders abolishing boards will be moved only where we are satisfied with the progress towards establishing effective alternative arrangements.