§ Mr. PicklesTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what progress is being made with the arrangements to introduce three-year licences for TECs, and if she will make a statement. [3234]
§ Mr. PaiceI am pleased to be able to announce today that 13 training and enterprise councils have completed the process of meeting the rigorous standards we set for the award of three-year licences. The licences will be effective from April 1996. The TECs are:
- Central England
- Co. Durham
- Coventry and Warwickshire
- Devon and Cornwall
- Dorset
- Greater Nottingham
- Leeds
- Norfolk and Waveney
- Normid TEC
- Rochdale
- Teesside
- Tyneside
- Wolverhampton
A number of other TECs are close to completing the process. I expect to make shortly further announcements of TECs to be awarded licences from April 1996.
This announcement brings the total number of licensed TECs to 42, over half of the TEC network in England. Our expectation has always been that the introduction of licensing for all England TECs would take until 1997.