Lack of spending on training condemned

AN OVERWHELMING majority of personnel specialists in British companies believe that the Government and business spend too little on vocational training, according to the non-aligned Industrial Society.

Four out of five managers believe that the Government is devoting insufficient resources, and two-thirds say company training budgets are too low, the society found in a survey published today.

Personnel and training managers would like to see a law obliging employers to reveal more information about their training policies in annual reports. They also believe that staff who leave companies should sometimes be obliged to repay the cost of their training. More than a quarter of the 434 managers questioned said that their firms already implemented such a policy.

The survey, Training Trends, reported little interest in attempts to rationalise training certificates through National Vocational Qualifications, but growing support for the Investors in People 'kitemark' scheme, in which companies applied for recognition of their achievements in the field. There was also increased interest in the Training and Enterprise Council network, set up to deliver government policies.

Ministers will be pleased to find the society said that there was a small increase in the number of managers reporting higher spending on training. Slightly more managers also expected such budgets to rise over the next six months.

However, Rhiannon Chapman, director of the Industrial Society, said that overall the report revealed deep unease about the commitment to training.

Training Trends No 5; the Industrial Society, Peter Runge House, 3 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5DG; pounds 20.

Letters, page 16