asked the Secretary of State for ocial Services what was the latest available annual cost of running adult training centres throughout the United Kingdom; and how many full-time equivalent participants there were attending in that year.

Net revenue expenditure on adult training centres in England for the year ended 31st March 1977 amounted to about £35 million. This figure includes loan charges and capital expenditure met from revenue but not the cost of administration which cannot be separately identified for this service. Figures collected from local authorities on the number of participants do not allow full-time equivalents to be estimated but the numbers of trainees regularly attending adult training centres in England at 31st March 1977 was about 35,000.I have no responsibility for these services in other parts of the United Kingdom.