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ANOTHER BUDGET WILL be unveiled by the Chancellor in July or October. And it will be so severe in its impact that the general election will be deferred until the spring of 1975.

In neo‐classical economic theory labour is a commodity and the ultimate value of the employer's services is determined by the sales value of the product of these services: the cost of supply reflects both the disutility of work for the recruit and his equalisation of net advantages between jobs. For modern labour economists the assumption that entrepreneurs require identical inputs of labour and the new recruits will therefore possess similar skills (the conditions of free competition) is an unrealistic one. Hence segmental labour market theory has grown out of the need to explain differences between shared needs and commonalities within each group of consumers (employers) on the one hand and suppliers (employees) on the other. In this way it has been possible to carry on assuming the existence of perfect competition on both sides of the market within the boundaries of labour markets thus defined.

British strikers top of the world league for State subsidies AS THE CABINET sweats it out in the never‐ending battle to win industrial peace, Edward Heath has told Sir Keith Joseph to keep sitting on a political time bomb—despite the fact that the Social Services Secretary is showing increasing signs of discomfort.

Speaking about the changing provision in this area, Sir Keith said that it was far more diverse than that of the schools:

A new national centre to promote management training for headteachers and senior staff in schools is to be set up by Bristol University and the South West Regional Management Centre at Bristol Polytechnic. The National Centre is one part of a three‐part initiative on management training for headteachers and senior staff. The other parts are the release of experienced headteachers and senior staff for one‐term secondments, and extra regional management training courses. Overall the initiative aims to develop the expertise needed to organise schools and their curriculum, and to handle resources. Speaking at a conference at Loughborough University, Education Secretary Sir Keith Joseph said:

Education Secretary Sir Keith Joseph has opened a dialogue with the University Grants Committee on four key issues which relate to the reshaping of the university system. He endorses the principles underlying the Committee's recent allocations of grant, and said that in planning for the lower level of funding proposed it had rightly tried to strike a balance between protecting scholarship across the whole range of university subjects, and seeking to enhance the contribution which the universities make to commerce and industry and the production of wealth. He has asked for the Committee's views on:

A new system of ‘A’‐level grading to resolve the long‐standing problem of the narrow mark range of Grade C will come into force for the Summer 1987 examinations, and according to Education Secretary Sir Keith Joseph: The new system should be both fair and practicable, and should stand the test of some years. The following grading system will be adopted:

Why do people study Statistics? As a statistician I would like to think that all are fired with enthusiasm to become one — to be able to devise an opinion poll that would correctly forecast the General Election results; to compile unemployment statistics in such a way that Sir Keith Joseph and others would be satisfied; or to devise an experiment so that the best combination of fertilizers could be evaluated to give the highest crop yield at lowest economic cost. I am, however, a realist. Whilst it is true that a very small minority study to become statisticians (ability in Mathematics and a knowledge thereof to at least “A” level is essential) the great majority study simply because it is a compulsory subject in an examination. A glance at my local evening institute prospectus shows numerous classes in Drama, Creative Writing, Languages, etc., most of which are designed for people to improve their knowledge for pleasure or perhaps to help on a holiday abroad. But a class in Statistics? One for the accountants, maybe.

BTEC is about education and training for employment. It has been said that education is merely training done well; so I am particularly pleased that Sir Keith Joseph, Secretary of State for Education & Science, is here with Tom King, the Employment Secretary. The accepted national approach that I, and many other employers, fail to understand is the division of responsibility for education and training across different Departments of State. As employers we believe this division is nonsense, as education and training must be two parts of a whole. Therefore I was very glad to sign an agreement last week between BTEC and the Engineering Industry Training Board for Joint Certification of both education and training for engineering technicians and technician engineers. Sir Richard O'Brien, EITB Chairman, who is abroad at the moment, shares my satisfaction that we have been able to come together. BTEC will be pursuing arrangements like this one in other fields.

While the proposals for the new Certificate in Pre‐Vocational Education (CPVE) recently announced by Sir Keith Joseph may be welcomed by many lecturers in further education, by verifying that the successful Business & Technician Education Council (BTEC) General Diploma is to be subsumed with CPVE, the proposals have confirmed the worst fears of most lecturers in business studies. Why then should this action of classifying the BTEC General award as a pre‐vocational qualification surprise and annoy so many lecturers in further education?