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Training and Enterprise Councils

Mr. Hinchliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what discussions have taken place with (a) the voluntary sector, (b) trade unions and (c) other groups to encourage people from outside the private sector to join training and enterprise council boards of directors; and if she will make a statement. [22173]

Mr. Paice: The membership of training and enterprise council boards is a matter for individual TECs, subject to the requirements for two thirds of the board to comprise chief executives or senior directors of private-sector organisations. The remaining directors must be chief executives or their equivalents from education, economic development, trade unions, voluntary organisations or the public sector.

Mr. Hinchliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what research her Department has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated into the local consequences of the mergers between training and enterprise councils and chambers of commerce; and if she will make a statement. [22174]

Mr. Paice: The Department has commissioned independent consultants to look at the impact of training and enterprise council-chamber mergers. They have been asked to report their findings by November 1996.

Mr. Hinchliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will take steps to improve the communication and consultation between training and enterprise councils and local democratically elected bodies; and if she will make a statement. [22175]

Mr. Paice: The Government's strategic guidance to training and enterprise councils stresses the need for TECs to work in partnership with other local organisations to meet the needs of their local communities. The criteria for the award of a three-year licence to TECs to take account of TEC participation in local partnerships.

Mr. Hinchliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what plans she has to alter the auditing requirements of training and enterprise councils; and if she will make a statement. [22176]

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Mr. Paice: The Department is carrying out a review of training and enterprise councils audit arrangements in conjunction with the TEC National Council. Any agreed findings will be implemented as soon as practical.

Mr. Hinchliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what action will be taken where training and enterprise councils do not fulfil the criteria for a three-year licence; and if she will make a statement. [22177]

Mr. Paice: After 1997, the Government do not propose to contract with training and enterprise councils which fail to meet the criteria for a licence. The round 3 licensing prospectus, due to be issued shortly, explains what happens if a TEC fails to meet the criteria. A copy of the prospectus will be placed in the Library.

Mr. Hinchliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will ensure that answers to hon. Members' questions on training and enterprise councils are published in the Official Report. [22178]

Mr. Paice: Answers to hon. Members' questions on training and enterprise councils are published in the Official Report.

Mr. Hinchliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what mechanisms are available to ensure that training and enterprise councils are accountable to Parliament; and if she will make a statement. [22179]

Mr. Paice: Training and enterprise councils are private companies operating under contract with a number of Government Departments. They are accountable through their contract with the appropriate Secretaries of State, and through them to Parliament.

Mr. Hinchliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how the different costs of training schemes in different sectors are taken into account when providing funding for training and enterprise councils; and if she will make a statement.[22180]

Mr. Paice: Training and enterprise councils prepare annual business plans setting out their training proposals. Funding, based on these plans, is negotiated between the TEC and its local Government office. The extent to which the cost of training in different sectors is taken into account is an issue for negotiation between the TEC and the Government office.

Mr. Hinchliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what guidelines her Department issues in respect of the levels of reserves held by training and enterprise councils. [22183]

Mr. Paice: The Department requires each training and enterprise council to specify a prudent minimum reserve level, together with a target level to be met at the end of each operational year. The prudent minimum is determined by each TEC's directors and will include reserves earmarked for specific purposes such as funding fixed assets, financing working capital and specific projects such as business link support.

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Mr. Hinchliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will list those training and enterprise councils that currently hold more than £3 million in reserve; and if she will make a statement. [22184]

Mr. Paice: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Pendle (Mr. Prentice) on 29 February 1996, Official Report, column 38. This provides a list of training and enterprise councils and their reserves, as shown in their annual statutory audited accounts, at the end of the financial year 1994-95.

Mr. Hinchliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will introduce measures to ensure that the system for measuring training and enterprise councils' performance is (a) simplified, (b) standardised and (c) gives greater value for money and efficiency; and if she will make a statement. [22186]

Mr. Paice: The management information collected from training and enterprise councils provides a sound basis for measuring and comparing TEC performance. We are always looking, with TECs, to improve performance measurement arrangements.

Training (Outcome-related Payments)

Mr. Hinchliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what plans she has to bring within the system of successful outcome payments the training costs of basic skills up to NVQ level 1. [22181]

Mr. Paice: Payments for qualifications in basic skills below NVQ level 1 are already made. Foundation level wordpower and numberpower are payable outcomes for individuals with endorsed literacy and numeracy training needs in training for work and youth training. A separate pre-vocational training programme for unemployed adults, including basic skills, is to be piloted in 1996-97. Basic skills qualifications below NVQ level 1 will be payable in the pilots.

Mr. Hinchliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what plans she has to alter the definition of a job placement for the purpose of outcome-related payments in order to take account of the quality and content of the position gained and the likely length of its duration. [22182]

Mr. Paice: My right hon. Friend has no plans to alter the definition of a job placement for outcome related payments in training for work.

Training Schemes (Administrative Costs)

Mr. Hinchliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what are the annual administrative costs of youth training and training for work schemes for all available years; and if she will make a statement. [22185]

Mr. Paice: The Department does not collect information on the administrative costs of individual programmes.

Jobseeker's Allowance

Mr. Garrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what estimate he has made of the number of existing postal claimants who will no

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longer be eligible to sign by post when the jobseeker's allowance is introduced (a) in total and (b) by parliamentary constituency. [22549]

Mr. Forth: The rules allowing certain jobseekers to make their declarations by post will change with the introduction of jobseeker's allowance. The facility will be available to people whose normal journey to or from the jobcentre would take more than one hour, or would involve an absence from home of over four hours. People whose mobility is restricted by disability will also be considered for the postal facility. We estimate that the total number of postal signers will be reduced by up to 50 per cent. from the present level of about 120,000. It is not possible to break this estimate down by parliamentary constituency.

Firlands Training Ltd.

Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what plans she has to issue guidance to training and enterprise councils that they should not sign contracts with Firlands Training Ltd. of Aylesbury pending the completion of the investigations by the Department of Trade and Industry companies investigation branch under section 447 of the Companies Act 1985 into the involvement of the company's principals in the collapse of the AST group of companies. [23037]

Mr. Paice: As private companies, the contract between training and enterprise councils and their providers is a matter for the parties concerned.

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