The work of the Manpower Services Commission

Abstract

The Employment and Training Act 1973 set up three bodies corporate to coordinate and manage the country's employment and training services. These are: The Manpower Services Commission which was set up on the 1 January 1974 and currently has a staff of about 25 at its London headquarters. The staff of the Commission is likely to stay small and not rise above 50. The Training Services Agency formally comes into being on the 1 April 1974 when responsibility for training services is transferred from the Secretary of State for Employment to the Manpower Services Commission. The TSA does not formally employ anybody as yet as it is still part of the Department of Employment, but in April it aims to have a total staff of about 5 700. Of these there will be about 100 technical and 450 non‐technical staff in its headquarters and about 20 technical and 500 non‐technical in its regional offices. Most of its staff, about 2 150 technical and 900 non‐technical, will be employed in the 53 Government Training Centres. In addition, the TSA will employ about 1 500 industrial staff — storekeepers, timekeepers, maintenance men, etc. The Employment Services Agency will be formally set up on the 1 October 1974 when responsibility for employment services, including industrial rehabilitation units, the Professional and Executive Recruitment, employment exchanges, Jobcentres and Occupational Guidance Units, is transferred from the Secretary of State to the Manpower Services Commission. In its 1 076 employment offices, which includes about 200 part‐time and sub‐offices, the ESA aims to employ about 11 500 staff; 700 staff will be employed in the 40 Professional and Executive Recruitment offices and a further 200 in the 27 industrial rehabilitation units which will be partly staffed by the TSA.