The Employment & Training Bill: The Manpower Services Commission

The Government's plans for the future organisation of employment and training are described in a White Paper published on the 2 March as Cmnd No 5250 at 13½p under the title Employment and Training: Government Proposals. The White Paper actually accompanied the Employment and Training Bill which was presented to Parliament on the same day. It sets out the Government's intention to establish an independent Manpower Services Commission (MSG) to take over responsibility for running the public employment and training services and coordinating industrial training as a whole, and describes how, subject to Parliamentary approval, the Government envisages that the new arrangements will operate in practice. Just as the Industrial Training Act 1964 is about the Industry Training Boards, the Employment and Training Bill 1973 is about the Manpower Services Commission and the changes which are necessary within the various parts of the national system to make it work. This means creating one new institution, transferring responsibility for various aspects from one organisation to another and clarifying the relationships between the proposed component parts. This is what the Bill is about.