§ 40. Mr. O'Brienasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he will extend the range and scope of the PICKUP scheme.
§ Mr. BrookeThe PICKUP—Professional, Industrial and Commercial Updating—programme promotes the provision by universities, polytechnics and further education colleges of post-experience vocational education and training in all fields of employment. It is not intended to extend the scope of the programme thus defined. However, as announced in reply to a question from my right hon. Friend the Member for Wells (Mr. Heathcoat-Amory) on 12 June, at cols 421–22, it is proposed, subject to Parliamentary approval, to introduce education support grants towards the initial costs of courses of this kind and it is expected that this should lead to a significant enhancement of the scale of activity.