HL Deb 23 June 1997 vol 580 c147WA
Lord Lucas

asked Her Majesty's Government:

With reference to the statement in the Labour Party manifesto that one of the underlying causes of inflation, of low growth and of unemployment is "too little investment in education and skills, and in the application of new technologies", how they measure such investments, and what was the amount of such investments in the last financial year for which figures are available.

Baroness Blackstone

The level of past and planned investment in education and skills by the Department for Education and Employment is set out in the current spending plans and full details are given in the DfEE Departmental Report (Cm 3610). Employers' expenditure on training can be estimated by collecting data in a special survey. In 1993 employers' expenditure on training was £10.6 billion. This figure includes wage costs paid to trainees as well as the direct costs of the training. It is not possible to give a precise figure for the level of investment in the application of new technologies. In 1995 the Gross Domestic Expenditure on Research and Development by the public and private sectors was £14 billion. This includes all types of research and development including its application.