§ Mr. Ieuan Wyn JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the figures for those taking part in the training for work programme for the last three available years for(a) each of the standard regions of the United Kingdom and (b) the United Kingdom as a whole. [29347]
§ Mr. PaiceThe information requested is given in the following tables. As training for work began only in April 1993, the March 1993 figures are for employment training and employment action. Information is not available by standard regions, so a combination of different regional definitions has been used.
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Employment training and employment action—Number of people participating in the programmes—March 1993 Great Britain and Employment Service Regions Employment training Employment action London and South East 29,000 9,500 South West 9,300 2,700 West Midlands 11,700 2,900 East Midlands 10,400 3,000 Yorkshire and Humberside 15,400 3,300
Employment training and employment action—Number of people participating in the programmes—March 1993 Great Britain and Employment Service Regions Employment training Employment action North West 18,700 4,600 Northern 11,000 1,900 Wales 9,800 2,000 Scotland 15,500 3,400 Great Britain 134,700 33,400 Note:
The Great Britain total for Employment Training includes an estimate of those with employed status which is not included in regional figures.
Source:
Employment Service.
Table 2: Training for work Number of people participating in the programme Great Britain and TEED regions March 1994 March 1995 South East 8,600 7,400 London 20,900 15,700 Eastern 7,400 6,600 South West 11,000 7,400 West Midlands 13,800 10,600 East Midlands 9,400 7,800 Yorks and Humberside 19,000 13,400 Merseyside 6,900 8,600 North West 13,700 10,900 North East 13,600 10,400 Wales 8,700 8,600 Scotland 14,700 14,400 Great Britain 147,800 121,900 Source:
TEC Management Information returns, the Welsh Office, The Scottish Office.
§ Mr. JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make it his policy to introduce more flexibility into training for work programmes where trainees find it impossible to obtain sponsoring employers in sparsely populated rural areas. [29348]
§ Mr. PaiceTraining for work is a very flexible programme and training and enterprise councils have a considerable discretion over its design and implementation. Where employer placements are harder to find, training may be delivered by other means, including training providers, project work and open or distance learning.