§ Mr. CryerTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many copies of the information memorandum were issued by Deloitte Corporate Finance68W on the Skills Training Agency; how many organisations tendered for the skill centres either in part or in whole; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Eggar[holding answer 15 May 1990]: Deloitte Corporate Finance issued more than 100 copies of the information memorandum about the Skills Training Agency (STA).
The Government were pleased with the number of expressions of interest received, which covered every unit in STA.
§ Mr. CryerTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many people have been or will be redundant from the network of skill centres due to the sale of the centres to Astra Training Services and other companies; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Eggar[holding answer 15 May 1990]: I intend to close those parts of STA not included in the sale packages agreed with successful bidders and the staff in those parts will, as far as possible, be redeployed. I expect that there will be some redundancies among instructional and industrial grade staff, but the number is not yet known.
Staffing levels in the parts of STA which have been sold to the private sector are a matter for the new purchasers, but most purchasers have made it clear that they will need to restructure the businesses so as to secure commercial viability. I understand that one purchaser, Merseyside Education Training and Enterprise Ltd. (METEL), has declared redundancies with effect from 15 May.