§ Mr. Sheermanasked the Paymaster General if he will list the numbers (a) entering apprenticeships (b) in apprenticeships and (c) completing apprenticeships in each of the industries for which industrial training boards have operated in each year since 1964.
§ Mr. TrippierI regret that the information requested is not available.
§ Mr. Sheermanasked the Paymaster General what was the level of Exchequer support for apprenticeships at current and constant prices in each of the years from 1964 to 1985.
§ Mr. TrippierInformation is not available for the financial years 1964–65 to 1974–75. Between 1975–76 and 1982–83, support was provided in the form of premium grants for first year apprentices and grants for award holders, as well as support for redundant apprentices and unplaced award holders, as follows:
Year At cash price At constant price (1985–86 base)1 £ million £ million 1975–76 18.9 51.0 1976–77 36.0 85.7 1977–78 38.9 81.4 1978–79 37.8 71.5 1979–80 24.0 38.8 1980–81 33.2 45.3 1981–82 36.0 44.7 1982–832 38.7 44.8 1 Prices adjusted by the GDP Deflator 2 For financial years 1983–84 and 1984–85, expenditure covering residual payments for apprentice training under these schemes which commenced prior to September 1983, and continued support for redundant apprentices, was as follows:
Year At cash price At constant price (1985–86 base) £ million £ million 1983–84 20.3 22.5 1984–85 3.2 3.4 Since September 1983 substantial support for long duration training including apprenticeships has been provided through the youth training scheme. It is not possible to identify the direct level of Exchequer support on a comparable basis with the table.