HC Deb 31 July 1998 vol 317 cc817-8W
Mr. Andrew George

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what assessment he has made of the(a) training achievements and effectiveness and (b) value for money of training and enterprise councils. [54403]

Mr. Mudie

The work of each TEC is assessed by its Government Office on an ongoing basis. All TECs are required to meet a set of minimum licensing standards designed to demonstrate continuous improvement, value for money and accountability. Government Offices will, for the first time this year, publish annual reports on their assessment of the performance of their TECs.

We have also implemented a research and evaluation programme on TECs and copies of study reports are available in the Library.

Mr. Andrew George

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what estimate he has made of the proportion and amount of budget spent on management and administration costs by each training and enterprise council in 1997–98. [54402]

Mr. Mudie

This information is not yet available for 1997–98. Copies of the audited accounts are placed in the Library as they become available.

Information on administrative costs and the proportion of overall income spent on administration is stated in the consolidated annual statutory audited accounts of most of the English TECs. Companies law allows TECs to present their income and expenditure accounts using two different formats which can be adapted by adding further detail. Most TECs have chosen the format which includes disclosure of administrative costs which include staff and premises costs and other overhead. We are asking that those TECs that do not currently identify administrative costs reconsider the format they have adopted for the presentation of their accounts.