§ Ms MowlamTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) how much has been spent on the ACE programme in each of the last 15 years; [18440]
(2)how many ACE managers have been made redundant following the reduction in expenditure on the programme in 1996; [18438]
(3)how much has been spent on training ACE managers in the 16 years of the ACE scheme. [18439]
§ Mr. AncramResponsibility for the subject in question has been delegated to the Training and Employment Agency under its chief executive, Mr. Ian Walters. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Ian Walters to Ms Marjorie Mowlam, dated 6 March 1997:
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has asked me, as Chief Executive of the Training and Employment Agency, to reply to your questions about the Action for Community Employment (ACE) Programme.Parliamentary Question 408 (Ref: 18440)
The following expenditure has been incurred on ACE since 1981:
Expenditure Year (£ million) 1981–82 1.67 1982–83 5.24 1983–84 10.6 1984–85 13.61 1985–86 18.34 1986–87 29.14 1987–88 29.47 1988–89 40.39 1989–90 48.95 1990–91 50.42 1991–92 51.68 1992–93 52.96 1993–94 50.61 1994–95 50 1995–96 49.96 1996–97 139.83 1Allocation. Parliamentary Question 409 (Ref 18438)
59W
In total 119 ACE Core posts will be shed by 31 March 1997 as a direct result of the 1996–97 budgetary reductions. Of these 48 are management posts including assistant and deputy managers.Parliamentary Question 411 (Ref: 18439)
Structured training was introduced progressively int the ACE programme from 1989. Since then, approximately £600,000 has been spent on training ACE core staff including managers.