Training Schemes (Hansard, 23 October 1989)

§ Mr. Hardy
To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if, in order to reduce the costs incurred by trainees participating in those schemes, he will permit managers of employment training schemes to operate their courses on the basis of four rather than five days per week.

§ Mr. Nicholls
No. Employment training is designed to be a full-time programme, offering training for a minimum of 30 hours per week over five days.

§ Mr. Tony Lloyd
To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many filled employment training places there are in the Greater Manchester area; and what percentage this represents of the original departmental projections.

§ Mr. Nicholls
On 13 October 1989, the latest date for which information is available, there were 9,456 people on employment training in Greater Manchester. Departmental projections are for internal management purposes only.

§ Mr. Tony Lloyd
To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he has any plans to increase the allowance offered to employers under employment training.

§ Mr. Nicholls
Employers are involved in employment training because they recognise the value of quality training. They do not receive allowances for taking part in the programme.

§ Mr. Tony Lloyd
To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what steps he is taking to review the progress of employment training.

§ Mr. Nicholls
The progress of employment training, like that of all other programmes run by my Department, is kept under constant review.