§ 58. Mr. Roweasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will make a statement on the outcome of the forum on construction industry training held in January by the Minister of Housing, Urban Affairs and Construction, the hon. Member for Oxford, West and Abingdon (Mr. Patten).
§ Mr. John PattenThere was a wide measure of agreement at this forum which was called by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Employment, the hon. Member for Rossendale and Darwen (Mr. Trippier) and myself. As a result, the chairman of the construction industry training board agreed to put together proposals by the end of March to increase the number of entrants into craft training by 4,000. The board also agreed to prepare an action plan by the end of April which will cover: medium-term measures to deal with the skill shortages problem; ways of improving the provision and uptake of training for site managers and supervisors; and ways of improving the industry's investment in the training of experienced operatives and craftsmen.