§ Mr. RowlandsTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what estimate he has made of(a) the costs of setting up and (b) the annual running costs of the United Kingdom network of national training organisations; and what proportion of these costs will be carried within public funds. [94823]
§ Mr. WicksSince 1997 the Department has spent £151,854 on the independent panel assessing bids from organisations seeking to become national training organisations (NTOs). The Department does not hold complete information on the running costs of NTOs, most of which are met by employers, and is therefore unable to calculate the proportion of these costs carried within public funds.