HC Deb 13 February 1990 vol 167 cc204-7W
25. Mr. Janner

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will make a statement regarding the availability of places on employment training schemes for people recently made redundant.

Mr. Nicholls

In certain circumstances redundant workers can have immediate access to employment training without satisfying the normal six months unemployed condition. The main examples are people wishing to train in locally identified skill shortage occupations; those wishing to train in business start-up or enterprise training; people who require training in English as a second language; and people with disabilities.

Mr. McLeish

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if will give(a) the total numbers of lone parents on employment training receiving financial assistance towards child care costs and (b) the total expenditure involved between September 1988 and December 1989 for each standard region, Wales, Scotland and Great Britain.

Mr. Nicholls

[holding answer 12 February 1990]: The estimated proportions of trainees receiving child care allowances at the end of December 1989, the latest date for which information is available, are given in table 1. As a guide, the in-training figure for 15 December 1989 has been provided for each region.

The total expenditure on child care payments between September 1988 and December 1989 is shown in table 2.

The information requested is not collected by standard region; the figures quoted are for Training Agency regions and Scotland and Wales.

Table 1
Employment training trainees in receipt ofchildcare allowances
Region Per cent.1 Number2
South East 5 14,600
London 4 21,400
South West 3 12,200
West Midlands 4 23,100
East Midlands and Eastern 3 16,900
Yorkshire and Humberside 2 25,500
North West 3 29,200
Northern 2 24,600
Wales 1 16,500
Scotland 3 26,200
Great Britain 3 3211,000
1Proportion receiving child care allowances end December 1989.
2 Numbers in training 15 December 1989.
3The Great Britain Total includes a small number of trainees at large Contractors Unit and Residential Training Centres who are not reflected in the individual regional figures.
Table 2
Child care expenditure by region
£ million
Region Total expenditure September 1988 to end December 1989
South East 0.742
London 2.358
South West 0.518
West Midlands 0.895
East Midlands and Eastern 0.821
Yorkshire and Humberside 0.672
North West 1.375
Northern 0.665
Wales 0.351
Scotland 1.048
Great Britain 11.770

Mr. McLeish

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the total number of training managers for employment training in(a) the private sector employer, (b) local authorities, (c) voluntary organisations and (d) private training organisations in December 1989 for Great Britain.

Mr. Nicholls

[holding answer 12 February 1990]: The total number of training managers participating in employment training at the latest available date is as follows:

Number
(a) Private sector employers 201
(b) Local authorities 195
(c) Voluntary organisations 366
(d) Private training organisations 507

Mr. McLeish

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the total amount of employment training allowance paid in each of the months April 1989 to December 1989 for Great Britain.

Mr. Nicholls

[holding answer 12 February 1990]: The following table shows the total amount of recorded expenditure in employment training (ET) trainee allowances (excluding travel, childcare and other allowances) in the months April 1989 to December for Great Britain.

1989 £ Millions
April 1Nil
May 45.639
June 21.663
July 73.259
August 45.730
September 49.332
October 42.169
November 46.540
December 47.094
1 Other than for the final month of a financial year, expenditure on ET trainee allowances is normally recorded in the month following the period of training concerned.
2 There was a delay in recording expenditure on trainee allowances in June 1989.

Mr. Teddy Taylor

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the employment training initiatives sponsored by his Department in Essex.

Mr. Nicholls

Employment training in Essex continues to play an important part in helping the unemployed obtain the skills and experience they need to get jobs and some 2,200 people are currently taking advantage of it.

Mr. Simon Hughes

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on his Department's follow-up survey of employment training by region; and how many people who have proceeded through the scheme now have full-time employment.

Mr. Nicholls

The first results from the exercise to follow up all employment training leavers indicates that 58 per cent. of all those trainees completing their planned training enter employment, self-employment or full-time training or further education. Information at a regional level is not yet available.

85. Mr. Eastham

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the procedure currently being deployed by his Department to monitor expenditure on employment training.

Mr. Nicholls

My Department monitors closely the level of expenditure on employment training through its financial management and accounting system. It also operates a system of financial appraisal and monitoring for all organisations contracted to deliver employment training, to ensure that public money is properly protected and spent for the purposes intended.

73. Dr. Reid

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many trainees entered permanent employment immediately after leaving employment training in the period January to December 1989.

Mr. Nicholls

The information is not available.

64. Ms. Armstrong

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was(a) the target for employment training places and (b) the number of filled places in the period from January to December 1989.

Mr. Nicholls

Targets for the number of employment training places are for internal management purposes only. The number of filled places on employment training increased from 111,000 to over 210,000 in the period January to December 1989.

40. Mr. Boyes

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the average length of time trainees spend on employment training.

Mr. Nicholls

Trainees spend an average of about six months on employment training.