§ Mr. Bill MichieTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what arrangements Training and Enterprise Councils have in place in respect of(a) monitoring and evaluation of their work in terms of efficiency, effectiveness, fairness to clients and value for money, (b) auditing of annual accounts by a public body and (c) public access to meetings of (i) TEC boards and (ii) other decision-making committees and panels; and whether the minutes of these bodies are available to the public. [33216]
§ Dr. HowellsThrough our contract we expect Training and Enterprise Councils to review regularly their performance and capability against agreed standards to retain their Licences. These standards include arrangements for quality assurance of their training suppliers, a commitment to continuous improvement and compliance with the TEC National Council's Framework for Local Accountability.
TECs are also required under the terms of their Licence to permit the National Audit Office, the European Commission or the European Court of Auditors access to their own records and those of any of their subsidiaries and/or their providers. However as private companies they are obliged to have their accounts audited by a qualified auditor.
TECs are not required to allow public access to Board meetings but the Framework for Local Accountability expects TECs to open as many Board papers as reasonable to public scrutiny and brief interested parties on the outcomes of Board discussions in accordance with the recommendation of the Committee on Standards in Public Life.