§ Mr. SpellarTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the number of apprentices in each of the last 20 years.
§ Miss WiddecombeThe information is not available for the period requested. Estimates from the labour force survey since 1979 of the number of people in Great Britain undertaking apprenticeships are given in the following table:
Numbers of apprentices by year (Great Britain) Spring each year Thousands 1979 367 1981 n.a. 1983 363 1984 332 1985 357 1986 318 1987 314 1988 329 1989 367 1990 352 1991 330 1992 325 Source: Labour Force Survey.