Money for training Bermudian automotive collision repair professionals, butchers, nurses and teachers has been set aside in next year’s budget, Home Affairs Minister Michael Fahy said yesterday.And cruise lines have been approached with a view to developing an employment programme in the industry for locals.Senator Fahy also announced — in a budget briefing to the media — that the National Training Board will develop and implement a national training plan.Training programmes will be aimed at reducing the reliance on overseas labour, he said.The retraining scholarship fund at the Bermuda College will be boosted by $300,000 for nursing and teaching certification training — adding to the existing programme for certifying accountants.And a total of $80,465 has been allocated to send four Bermudians to Ipswich in the UK for butcher certification, following which the trainees will enter the workforce as apprentices.“The proposed butcher programme is specifically designed to meet the needs of local industry, and it is expected that the four participants will attend training for up to 12 weeks depending on the location and particular learning institution,” Mr Fahy said.He added that upon successful completion of the programme, the trainees will be awarded the Food and Drinks Qualifications Award — the same qualification held by most foreign butchers working in Bermuda.Another $201,190 has been set aside for overseas training of six Bermudians seeking to become automotive collision repair professionals.Participants are expected to “obtain an internationally recognised certification that will allow them to compete for opportunities on a level playing field”, Sen Fahy said.“Although there has not been a significant change in the number of work permit issuances for professional automotive collision repair journey persons, it is clear that requests for renewals are consistent.“Additionally, the industry is concerned that the Bermudians currently working in this field are nearing retirement and succession planning either does not exist or there are very limited numbers to fill the eventual void.“The main objective is to minimise the requests for the issuance of work permits and to realise sustainability with well trained Bermudian professionals.”Sen Fahy added that the employment programme with the cruise ships should be on line in “coming months”.“It is anticipated that this programme will yield employment opportunities for Bermudians who are skilled in any number of areas, both technical and professional.”He defended the cruise ship programme as “very realistic” saying that most of the cruise ship lines recruit in their destination jurisdictions, but had not done so in Bermuda because the Island had historically had full employment.“We’ve spoken with them and they are keen to develop something specifically for us.”Spaces in Government’s summer employment programme will be increased from 100 to 150, the Minister continued.And he reminded the media that work permit policy was being strengthened with a new regime to be finalised by March 15.Asked about including training and succession planning requirements in work permit policy, the Minister agreed that current policy is “pretty lackadaisical in relation to training requirements”.“It is something I’m looking to beef up,” he said.