§ 27. Mr. Baldryasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what progress is being made in tackling skill shortages in new technology industries.
§ Mr. PattieIn its first report published in July the information technology skills shortages committee, chaired by my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Industry, proposed a new "partnership for change" between industry and the academic world to tackle the problem if IT skill shortages at the graduate level. Action is in hand to put the Committee's proposals into effect. The Committee will shortly produce a report on IT skill shortages at other levels in the work force; and a final report before the end of the year will examine the action taken to date and the direction of further effort.