HC Deb 01 February 1990 vol 166 cc334-5W
45. Mr. Tony Lloyd

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the effects of proposed changes in the funding of youth training projects in community workshops.

Mr. Needham

Under the new arrangements community workshops will become recognised training organisations and there will be a greater emphasis on quality training with outcomes, including the attainment of vocational qualifications. The workshops will be paid a set amount per trainee and, compared with the present system, the management committee will have the freedom to make decisions on how to operate and how to organise their training programmes. I have listened very carefully to the representations made to me in recent weeks and at my meeting last Monday with the Northern Ireland Association of Community Workshops I told them of modifications I had decided to make to the original proposals to meet their concerns. I am hopeful that the workshops' response will be positive and that they will now proceed to draw up their operational plans for 1990–91.