asked the Minister for Labour the criteria applied by AnCO in engaging outside firms or consultants to provide external training courses; if he is satisfied that this is the most efficient way of using available public finance for training purposes; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Written Answers. - External Training Courses.
385.
AnCO applies the following criteria in engaging outside firms or consultants to provide external training courses:—
—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.
AnCO use outside firms or consultants to run courses on their behalf, to argument and complement the training programmes run by their training centres. By using outside firms and consultants to run courses on their behalf AnCO can maintain a high degree of flexibility in the training of the unemployed and they can meet short-term training needs without incurring the expensive capital investment involved in providing training centres for which a long-term need may not exist. In addition the widest possible range of industrial and commercial skills can be provided to the unemployed in any part of the country, without any unnecessary duplication. It will be appreciated, of course, that these criteria must be applied flexibly in order to ensure that the particular training needs identified can be met most appropriately.