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Manufacturing Industry (Training)
10. Mr. Nicholas Winterton (Macclesfield): What measures his Department has taken to encourage a greater level of training for work in manufacturing industry. [138366]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education and Employment (Mr. Michael Wills): We are making good progress with setting up the Learning and Skills Council, which will receive funding of more than £5.5 billion in 2001-02.
The council will work closely with national training organisations, 19 of which are specifically involved in manufacturing. Their strategies include targeted use of a range of initiatives, including foundation and advanced modern apprenticeships and national vocational qualifications
Mr. Winterton: I am grateful for that reply. Last Friday, I presented an Investors in People award to County Labels, a young, dynamic and successful manufacturing company located in Adelphi Mill, Bollington, in my constituency. Its success is partly based on training and what it describes as career development. The textile and clothing industry strategy group report of June emphasised the importance of improving and formalising training and career development, and stressed the need for universities and colleges to offer appropriate training opportunities. Bearing that in mind, are the Government looking specifically at the needs of manufacturing industry, which is the only source of sustainable non-inflationary economic growth in this country?
Mr. Wills: I congratulate the firm in the hon. Gentleman's constituency. It is very good to see firms getting the Investors in People award, which is a valuable recognition of their quality, and I send my compliments to County Labels.
We recognise the importance of training, which, as the hon. Gentleman will be aware, was a significant part of the plan that we announced in June to help the industry to restructure. Training is essential to that aim, and we have set up a foresight panel to link the science base to manufacturing. That is fundamental to all our strategies, not only for manufacturing and training, but for the economy as a whole.
Mr. Barry Jones (Alyn and Deeside): Does my hon. Friend know that although the British aerospace industry has a full order book, it is facing serious skills shortages which may eventually affect the overseas earnings of between £4 billion to £5 billion a year that it makes for Britain? Does he think that our high schools are telling our 16-year-old school leavers about the value of apprenticeships? Will he undertake to start a campaign in our high schools so that teachers tell students that those
apprenticeships are available; otherwise, a great industry may not be able to find the local skilled labour that it needs and may have to recruit elsewhere?
Mr. Wills: We recognise the problem of skills shortages throughout the economy and particularly want to encourage apprenticeships for those students who would find them a valuable and fulfilling step towards work. I draw my hon. Friend's attention to an interesting pilot initiative in schools involving computer aided design in computer aided manufacturing--CADCAM--using information and communications technology. That is helping to generate real interest in engineering and we are confident that it will start to bridge the skills gaps to which my hon. Friend referred.
Job Transition Service
11. Mr. John Healey (Wentworth): If he will make a statement on his plans for the new job transition service. [138369]
The Minister for Employment, Welfare to Work and Equal Opportunities (Ms Tessa Jowell): As part of the pre-Budget Report, the Chancellor announced his intention to establish a new job transition service, which will focus specifically on providing flexible help to individuals, families and communities facing large-scale redundancy. Between now and the Budget, we will consult widely with employers, employees and all the local partners in order to ensure that the service meets real need.
A number of potential approaches are being piloted by the south Yorkshire taskforce to deal with the redundancies declared by Corus, which I know are a matter of major concern for all constituency Members of Parliament, especially my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and my hon. Friend the Member for Wentworth (Mr. Healey).
Mr. Healey: I pay tribute to the support that my right hon. Friend and her Department have given Rotherham in dealing with the massive job cuts announced by Corus and other manufacturing firms. I welcome her commitment to trialling the new job transition service in Rotherham. Will she explain what extra help the new service is likely to bring to the work force and their families, as hundreds of workers now face redundancy at the hands of Corus?
Ms Jowell: The practical elements of the programme will include considerably more intensive help and advice about training and available job opportunities, and will build on the personal adviser model that is now a feature of most of our labour market programmes. The programme will also focus on help for families and the partners of people facing redundancy, and will link with local employers and employers elsewhere who are seeking to recruit for vacancies and meet their skills shortages. The aim is to keep the period in which someone is out of work as short as possible. The programme will provide fast help for individuals and families.
Learning and Skills Council
12. Mr. James Plaskitt (Warwick and Leamington): If he will make a statement on the objectives he has set for the Learning and Skills Council. [138370]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education and Employment (Mr. Malcolm Wicks): My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State published the Learning and Skills Council remit letter on 9 November. That sets out our key priorities for the first three years of the council's operation. They include encouraging more young people to stay on in learning, increasing demand for learning among adults, and improving the skills of the work force. We also expect the council to drive up standards in teaching and training.
Mr. Plaskitt: Does my hon. Friend agree that colleges of further education have a crucial role in delivering those objectives? Warwickshire college in my constituency is committed to supporting the objectives, and only yesterday signed an agreement with the local education authority on the future provision of post-16 training. What can my hon. Friend do to encourage other partners to follow that example?
Mr. Wicks: I know of the good work at Warwickshire college, and my hon. Friend's support for that institution. I congratulate its staff and students on their excellent work. Under the previous Administration, further education was widely regarded as a Cinderella service. Under this Administration and this Secretary of State, further education has a major and important role to play in the early part of the 21st century. That is why we are funding FE at record levels. We have established the Learning and Skills Council so that further education increasingly responds to the needs of individuals and the demands of the local economy.
Miss Anne McIntosh (Vale of York): Does the Minister regret the passing of the training and enterprise councils and the positive and high input from businesses in Investors in People and in training generally? Can I assume that the Learning and Skills Council will now be responsible for Investors in People? What input will there be from business at board level?
Mr. Wicks: Many TECs have done excellent work, not least because of the commitment of the business community. For that reason, many people from the TEC community will play a major role in the new local learning and skills councils, some as chairs and some as members of staff. As the Secretary of State has said, most of the chairs of the councils, including the national chair, Bryan Sanderson, come from the business community, as well as 40 per cent. of local members. That in itself shows
our commitment to ensuring that the role of the business community is a major focus in the new order for learning and training.
Mr. Eric Martlew (Carlisle): I have had discussions with my hon. Friend and have written to him about the lack of basic skills among the work force on our rail network. The present chaos on the railways has much to do with the fact that the necessary skills are not available. Does my hon. Friend believe that, if the Government are to reach their 10-year target, the Learning and Skills Council must be deeply involved in urgently providing the training and skills required to give us a modern railway system for the 21st century?
Mr. Wicks: I certainly recognise that training must play a full part if we are to achieve a modern rail industry that our economy and passengers desperately need. I know of my hon. Friend's keen interest, hence his letter to me. Yesterday, I took an initiative to boost training in the rail industry, and I shall send him full details of that initiative later today.
Child Care
14. Ms Joan Ryan (Enfield, North): How many extra child care places have been created since the introduction of the national child care strategy; and if he will make a statement. [138372]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education and Employment (Ms Margaret Hodge): Almost 250,000 new child care places have been created since 1997, providing care for nearly 450,000 children. That is three and a half times the number of child care places that were created during the 18 long and wasted years when the Conservative party was in office.
Ms Ryan: I thank my hon. Friend for that answer, and for visiting the early years development partnership in Enfield last week. She will be aware from that visit of how pleased we are to welcome the new child care places in Enfield as a result of the national child care strategy, and how needed those places were. During her visit, we were given a demonstration of an excellent database on the early years development partnership website for anyone who wants to work in child care. It showed the wide range of job opportunities and the training and qualifications required. Are any mechanisms in place or has her Department taken any action to enable early years development partnerships to share good practice up and down the country?
Ms Hodge: I was incredibly impressed by all the aspects I saw of the work undertaken by the partnership in Enfield. I was particularly impressed by the nursery provision facilitated by our funding, and the work for children with special educational needs.
The website providing information about qualification routes for those interested in careers in child care was extremely impressive. We are considering ways of ensuring that that good practice is spread elsewhere.
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