Delegation tackles Jones over training collapse

Construction Minister Robert Jones was pressed this week to help the industry to stave off 'a potential collapse of the whole training infrastructure.'

A delegation of construction leaders warned him on Tuesday that apprentice registrations had dropped by 90%. They said changes in funding arrangements were likely to lead to increases of 40% or more in college fees. And they reported that private sector training facilities were in rapid decline because of cuts in Government cash.

Jones is said to have replied that the industry needs principally to press its case with the Department of Employment.

But one top training expert commented: 'We are fed up with getting no serious response from the Employment Department.

'We believe both the Government's much vaunted modern apprenticeship scheme and the college system are in jeopardy.'

The industry lobby was led by the electrical and heating and ventilating employers who have expressed concern about changes in public sector funding which mean that further education grants will be passed on to TECs rather than direct to colleges.

The specialists were supported by representatives of the Construction Industry Employers Council and the Construction Industry Training Board. They pointed to the recent closure of training centres by major contractors such as Wimpey and Henry Boot as further evidence of a crisis in skills provision.