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Baroness Walmsley: My Lords, could the Minister say what the Government are doing to encourage young people to complete the apprentice courses? I understand that both on the basic and on the advanced course the drop-out rate is about 50 per cent. On the employers' side, could the Government say whether they are convinced that they are reaching the right people, with the employer training pilot? Is it really reaching the SMEs that need assistance with training, or is it just going to the multinationals?

Lord Triesman: My Lords, construction completion rates are a cause for concern. However, there is a contrast to the improving standards for apprenticeship programmes as a whole. As a result of those improving standards, the number of those who drop out has been falling, from 60 per cent in 2002 to 34 per cent in 2004. The industry itself is made up in large part of very small firms, some of them micro-firms, unable to operate apprenticeship schemes on their own. We have tried to get the larger firms to use the firms downstream of them to provide apprenticeships, but with the larger firms co-ordinating and providing the content. That way, we are most likely to be able to deliver.

The Earl of Listowel: My Lords, is the Minister aware of the important work of National Grid Transco in training young offenders in custody in the repair and laying of pipes and in fork-lift driving, and of the very low rates of recidivism in those young men when they leave custody? What plans are there to expand that scheme to fill the gaps in the construction workforce to which the noble Lord, Lord Harrison, alluded?

Lord Triesman: My Lords, I am grateful to have been asked that question. I am aware of the scheme and there are plans to encourage it. Perhaps I could draw the attention of the House to one other scheme
 
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which illustrates very well the point made by the noble Earl. The Whitefriars Housing Group in Coventry, which owns and manages 20,000 homes, has an apprenticeship scheme for young people who are on the edge of serious criminal activity. Those young people, with a 90 per cent absentee record at school, have a 99 per cent attendance record at work. Indeed, one individual who was described as a one-person crime wave has just been awarded the apprenticeship of the year.

Lord Pilkington of Oxenford: My Lords, has the Minister considered the German experience where examinations for apprenticeships are done externally, where written reports are produced and where plumbers put their qualifications on the side of their vans? Could we not aim to do that?

Lord Triesman: My Lords, the House knows that apprenticeships constitute structured programmes of training which lead to recognised qualifications, giving the young people who take those apprenticeships the opportunity to work with an employer, to learn on the job, to build up knowledge and skills and to gain qualifications. It would be very good news if people put their qualifications on the sides of their vans.

Baroness Gardner of Parkes: My Lords, I declare an interest as a past vice-president of the National House Building Council. What percentage of women are going in for this training? They are eminently suited to undertake these highly skilled jobs.

Lord Triesman: My Lords, I do not have the overall figure for women as regards the 22,000 construction industry apprenticeships that are currently on offer, but I will write to the noble Baroness and provide it. I am told that the number and the proportion of women are going up. I believe that is also the case as regards other groups from ethnic minorities that have been under represented.

Lord Mackie of Benshie: My Lords, is the shortage due to the fact that employers will not employ apprentices or to the fact that apprentices are not paid enough to go into the job?

Lord Triesman: My Lords, happily, the number of apprentices in the construction industry is going up. There is every reason to believe that it will continue to go up. The fundamental thing for all these apprentices is that their aspirations are met by the courses they take, and that their abilities match them to real needs in the market so that they can see that they have a viable future. All of those factors are combining. That is a rather good news story for the United Kingdom.

Lord Harrison: My Lords, does my noble friend acknowledge that the Coventry-based Whitefriars Housing Group, which he has already mentioned, has been highly successful in recruiting apprentices from the ethnic minority groups in the local areas?

Lord Triesman: My Lords, that is quite true. It has been particularly successful in doing so. That was one
 
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of its aspirations. I mentioned the other aspiration in an earlier answer. Although I need to check a little further, I believe that I could make the same assertion about its recruitment of women.

Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation

Lord Carter asked Her Majesty's Government:

What progress has been made with the implementation of a renewable transport fuel obligation.

Lord Davies of Oldham: My Lords, the Government announced in December 2004 that they would undertake a feasibility study on the possibility of introducing a renewable transport fuel obligation. It will seek to establish the cost-effectiveness and administrative feasibility of an obligation, as well as its compatibility with other government objectives. The study is under way, and an interdepartmental group is making good progress. We will be talking to stakeholders shortly and seeking their input to the study.

Lord Carter: My Lords, I thank my noble friend for that Answer, but is he aware that oilseed crops in the ground now for harvest this summer could produce the feedstock for biodiesel, if the Government and the oil companies had the will to implement the renewable transport fuel obligation that is on the statute book? That is exactly the kind of initiative that could show that the Government are serious about their wish to put climate change at the top of the environmental agenda. Is my noble friend also aware—he will not need reminding—that CO2 emissions from road transport are increasing at the moment?

Lord Davies of Oldham: My Lords, a plant in Scotland has just been constructed to produce biofuel. Another one in Middlesbrough, which is five times larger than the Scottish one, will come on stream shortly. My noble friend, who played a conspicuous part in including this issue in the Energy Act, will recognise that there are major issues relating to the transport obligation that require us to cover the angle of international trade and our obligations in the European Community and to look at the sustainability of the programme, given the difficulties that some biofuels can produce in some economies. There are many angles to look at. I assure my noble friend that the study is going ahead, and we intend to make rapid progress this year.

Lord Palmer: My Lords, is the noble Lord able to say roughly how rapid that progress will be? As the noble Lord, Lord Carter, mentioned, crops already growing in the ground now could be used by this coming September or October.

Lord Davies of Oldham: My Lords, the best indication of our commitment to make rapid progress is that we expect to set a target for 2010 this year. That is two years before we are obliged to do so under the
 
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European requirement; we do not need to do it until 2007. We expect to be in a position to set that target this year. That is proof of the emphasis that we are putting on the development.

Lord Ezra: My Lords, is it not surprising that the Government are launching yet another consultative inquiry into the issue of a renewable transport fuel obligation when they launched one in April last year and a majority of respondents replied in favour? The Energy Act 2004, drafted by the Government themselves, sets out in great detail how such an obligation should operate. Why is there this further delay?

Lord Davies of Oldham: My Lords, the noble Lord is, of course, right; the amendments tabled by the noble Lord, my noble friend and the noble Lord, Lord Palmer, formed the basis of the government amendment to the Energy Act that gives us the basis for progress on this work. However, the noble Lord will recognise that it is not an easy market to develop. We have a model from the electricity supply industry, but this is a much more complex market. We have a great deal of work to do in developing the scheme. As I indicated, we expect to make progress this year.

Earl Ferrers: My Lords, will the noble Lord be kind enough to have another shot at answering the question of the noble Lord, Lord Palmer? He asked when the plant was likely to come into operation. I think that the noble Lord forgot to answer that.

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