§ Miss Emma NicholsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what policies she has formulated to retrain and redeploy the skills of those in the south west in general and Torridge and West Devon in particular who are affected adversely by the decline of defence-associated industries.
§ Mr. McLoughlinThere is a range of programmes and services available through the Employment Department, employment service, and training and enterprise councils (TECs) to help unemployed people find new jobs, retrain or set up their own businesses. These measures are available to former employees of all sectors, including defence, in the south west as elsewhere.
Devon and Cornwall TEC has established operation "Opus", a partnership between it, the employment service and others to give advice and help in defence redundancy situations.
The Employment Department has published an information pack, "Local Action for Employment Tackling Job Losses", which sets out the way TECs, the employment service and other local organisations can help individuals and communities affected by job losses.