asked the Minister for Labour if he will provide the following information regarding the £10.3 million allocation described in the AnCO report for the year ended 31 December 1984 as fees for external courses: (i) the names of the institutions to which these moneys were paid; (ii) the title of each of the courses pursued; (iii) the skill or qualification gained from each course; (iv) the duration of each course; (v) the cost of each of the courses and (vi) the criteria used by AnCO in selecting the particular institutions at which these courses were pursued.
Written Answers. - AnCO External Training.
213.
In the time available it has not been possible to gather all the information sought by the Deputy. I would propose therefore to deal only with (v) and (vi) of the question at this stage and to forward to the Deputy the outstanding information as soon as possible.
With regard to the question of the cost of each course it is not the policy of my Department to give details of amounts paid to particular companies or in respect of particular courses by AnCO.
The following, however, are the criteria applied by AnCO in engaging outside institutions, firms or consultants to provide external training.
—the competitiveness of the fees they charge;
—their particular training expertise especially as regards training the unemployed;
—the training facilities available to them;
—their performance and results in respect of previous training undertaken by them;
—their ability to operate in locations where training needs exist which cannot be met more efficiently or effectively from other AnCO programmes;
—their knowledge of industry's skill needs and their supporting contacts in industry;
—the need for a particular skill in the labour market which may not be readily available from within AnCO's other programmes.
Appropriate firms or consultants are selected on a tendering basis. Tendering documents in respect of each course give the following details:
(a) Resources — both physical and manpower,
(b) Course design,
(c) Cost of providing the course.
I should point out to the Deputy that I have recently instituted arrangements whereby the educational system will become more involved in the provision of external courses on behalf of AnCO.