HC Deb 17 December 1985 vol 89 c118W
39. Mr. Holt

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he has yet met the new director general of City and Guilds to discuss new vocational examination schemes.

Mr. Chris Patten

No. The City and Guilds of London Institute is an independent body established by royal charter and is free to develop new vocational certification schemes to meet the needs which it identifies. Officers of the Department and Her Majesty's inspectors, however, have regular contacts with the institute at all levels; and the director-general is a member of the review group on vocational qualifications. Any request for a meeting from the chairman and director of the institute would, of course, be sympathetically considered.