§ Ms KellyTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what measures have been introduced to promote individual learning accounts in the workplace. [160305]
§ Mr. Wicks[holding answer 8 May 2001]: Everyone aged 19 or over is entitled to open an individual learning account (ILA), including those in the workplace, provided their choice of learning is not graduate or post-graduate level and is not sports or leisure related.
Our approach has been to work with and through influential employer bodies such as the TUC, Small Business Service (SBS), the national training organisation (NTO) network and Campaign for Learning in promoting ILAs to employees.
A number of innovative approaches have been developed. These include the small firm learning account (SFLA), a pilot scheme offering additional funding to employees in small businesses. There are also more than 40 union learning fund (ULF) projects run by trade unions, which involve the promotion of ILAs, and their use, as tools for engaging people in the workplace.
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