§ Mr. Chris Smithasked the Secretary of State for Employment what have been the total number of apprenticeship places agreed for each of the years from 1979 to date, broken down into the following categories (a) the total of all apprenticeships, (b) the total for manufacturing industry, (c) the total for each industrial classification group and (d) the most recent figures available for each of the above categories for 1984.
§ Mr. Peter MorrisonComplete figures are not available in the form requested, but the Manpower Services Commission estimates that the following traditional apprenticeship places were agreed in all industries:
Numbers 1979–80 100,000 1980–81 90,000 1981–82 60,000 1982–83 45,000 1983–84 40,000 The number entering traditional apprenticeships will increasingly fail to reflect the extent of skill training being undertaken in industry, due to the reform of existing training arrangements, and public funding of first-year training under the youth training scheme.