HC Deb 28 June 1994 vol 245 cc672-3
9. Mr. Mark Robinson

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment when he last met representatives of the TEC movement; and what matters were discussed.

Miss Widdecombe

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and I regularly meet TEC representatives to discuss a wide range of topics.

Mr. Robinson

My hon. Friend will be aware that our right hon. Friend the Secretary of State paid a successful visit on 6 June to Somerset training and enterprise council. She may also be aware that Somerset TEC recently commissioned a survey which showed that 79 per cent. of all recently started-up businesses were still flourishing 18 months later. Will my hon. Friend consider the possibility of giving a high priority to bids under the single regeneration budget? They are extremely important to those who seek start-up funding.

Miss Widdecombe

I congratulate my hon. Friend on the performance of Somerset TEC. I confirm that the survey showing that 79 per cent. of new businesses were still trading was extremely encouraging and correct. The business start-up scheme is now part of the single regeneration budget. All bids for the regeneration fund, which is now included in that budget, will be most seriously considered. It is worth recording that 650,000 business start-ups were successfully implemented in the past year.

Mr. Tony Lloyd

When the Secretary of State arid the Minister met the TECs, did they discuss the London School of Economics report which showed that because of Government underfunding, the TECs were locked into delivering low-quality training simply for the unemployed? Does the Minister agree that if we are to begin to harness the potential of the nation's labour force and to enhance skill levels, we shall need considerably more than a change of direction by the Government. We shall need a change of Government.

Miss Widdecombe

We discussed not merely the LSE report, but far more up-to-date findings which show that the quality of TEC training is steadily improving. It is worth recording that there have been 165,000 youth training or credit starts since August, 650,000 business start-ups and 272,000 training for work a year. When we measure outcomes in terms of national vocational qualification level 3, which I do not think that the hon. Gentleman can call a derisory qualification, we find that the TECs are delivering training in very much the way that we hoped and that they are getting better at it all the time. Perhaps the hon. Gentleman would like to congratulate his local TEC on its performance.

Mr. Rowe

Is my hon. Friend satisfied that the standards that the Department uses to measure the effectiveness of the TECs are adequate? Is she also satisfied that the performance of the best TECs is published regularly to enable TECs that are not so effective to catch up?

Miss Widdecombe

The measurements that we use measure skills gained, qualifications gained, successful outcomes and those in employment at the end of training. We believe that those measures are the best as they successfully establish what the outcome of training has been. We are satisfied that they are correct and we are satisfied that there is increasing performance by the TECs. Having published the league tables of TECs, which give comparative performance, we believe that the best practices will now be disseminated and that TECs that have poorer performances will be encouraged to improve.