New Opportunities for Women (Hansard, 8 December 1992)

§ Mr. Atkins

Responsibility for the subject in question has been delegated to the Training and Employment Agency under its chief executive, Mr. J. Crozier. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from J. S. Crozier to Dr. Norman A. Godman, dated 7 December 1992:

You asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what monies have been deployed by way of the European Community's NOW initiative under Article 11 of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 4253/88 in:

(a) 1991; and

(b) so far this year;

what kind of employment and training programmes were funded in this way; and if he will make a statement.

The Training and Employment Agency (T&EA) has responsibility for the administration of the NOW initiative in Northern Ireland. As Chief Executive of the T&EA, I have been asked by the Secretary of State to reply on his behalf.

To date no money has been paid to promoters of projects under the NOW initiative in Northern Ireland apart from preliminary technical assistance to help promoters establish links with their transnational partners and jointly develop their projects. Technical assistance amounting to £20,000 has been committed and £14,500 paid.

Letters offering assistance totalling £226,000 have issued; and the first tranche of payments, amounting to £43,000 should be made shortly. Further Letters of Offer in respect of assistance totalling some £600,000 are in the process of being prepared.

Projects for assistance under the NOW initiative have been put forward by a wide range of bodies including rural and inner-city women's groups, training organisations and institutions of further and higher education. These projects all seek to enhance the skill levels and employment prospects of women and include pre-vocational training, training in new technologies and training in relation to business creation.

In administering the NOW initiative in Northern Ireland, the T&EA has sought to enable as many groups as possible to 603W benefit despite the relatively small amount of EC assistance available (our original allocation was some £700,000). This has involved encouraging promoters of similar projects to establish networks within Northern Ireland enabling them to share resources, expertise and transnational contacts.