MOTEC must stay
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ing of MOTEC at Livingston were Budget. But there was no definite )ROTESTS at the proposed clos nade during the debate on the eply from the Government.
The matter was raised by Tam )alyell (Labour, West Lothian) vho said the MOTEC — "the lagship of the Road Transport ndustry Training Board's raining scheme"— had a record if 1,500 apprentices, not one of vhom had failed external City Ind Guilds examinations. If it vas shut there would not be a ;kills testing centre north of 3ainsborough.
The centre was a very valuable ommodity, containing a purlose-built paint shop, a diesel Jel injection pump unit, and £4 gillion worth of training iachinery. The land and build-igs were themselves worth 2m.
Mr Dalyell said he was asking Dr help on behalf of the road ransport committee at Livvston, whose chairman was
Transport and General Workers Union deputy general secretary Alex Kitson. The local trade unions felt strongly on this issue, and were united with management.
This was a valuable establishment which stood on its own merits. The idea that it could be economically consolidated or merged with High Ercall on the Shropshire border was ridiculous. Could not the treasury consult the FiTITB before it went any further?
Support came from Robin Cook (Labour, Edinburgh Central), who described MOTEC as a showpiece for what could usefully be done by the public sector for training in the private sector. It catered for an industry that was notorious for containing many small firms which were unlikely, or perhaps unable, to organise an in-house training programme.
Not only would closure or reduction in the use of the facilities further reduce employment opportunities in one of the worst unemployment black spots in Scotland, it would also remove a valuable training facility, where 70 per cent of the trainees came from outside Scotland.
Nicolas Ridley, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, replied that as far as he knew, the training board was greatly concerned about rumours that Livingston might close. He did not have any final knowledge as to the truth of the matter, but he hardly thought that Mr Dalyell would want him to go further into that point in a Budget debate.
According to the RTITB, closure of Livingston is only one of several options being considered for the future, and industry sources suggest that it is unlikely to be closed.
THOMAS MEADOWS' national freight forwarding office has been transferred from central London to Colnbrook, near Heathrow Airport. The Colnbrook offices already house the national management and marketing operations of the cornpany's Airfreight subsidiary.