HC Deb 13 February 1990 vol 167 cc209-10W
29. Mr. Ron Davies

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will estimate the numbers of employees receiving training in Britain.

Mr. Nicholls

A recent survey of employers estimated that 8.6 million employees received training through their employers in 1986–87. The survey excluded the armed forces, agriculture, and firms with fewer than 10 employees.

More recent figures from the labour force survey show that in the spring of 1988 2.8 million employees received job-related training in the four weeks prior to the survey.

30 Mr. Lofthouse

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the total number and percentage of employees receiving training in the four-week period prior to the labour force survey in 1988.

Mr. Nicholls

A total of 2,773,000 employees of working age received job-related training in Great Britain in the four-week period prior to the labour force survey in 1988. This is 13.3 per cent. of all employees of working age.

34. Mr. Jacques Arnold

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on training provisions available to the unemployed.

Mr. Nicholls

The Government make training available for young people aged between 16 and 18 who are not in full-time education or employment through YTS. Employment Training (ET) is available primarily for adults aged over 18 and under 60 who have been continuously unemployed for at least 26 weeks. It is also open to certain special groups who do not need to satisfy the 26 weeks' unemployment criterion.

Currently there are 386,000 YTS trainees and 207,000 ET trainees.

32. Mr. McAvoy

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will estimate the amount of expenditure on employer-based training as a percentage of gross domestic product in Germany, Japan, the United States of America, and Sweden and the United Kingdom for the most recent date for which information is available.

Mr. Nicholls

It is estimated that employers in Great Britain spent £18 billion in 1986–87 on training their work force. This is equivalent to 4.6 per cent. of gross domestic product.

Comparable figures are not available for the other countries listed.