Bradford TEC axed!

Bradford Training & Enterprise Council, which has a long and dismal record of failings, is at last to be scrapped, along with the other 73 TECs around the country.

Government minister David Blunkett announced the decision yesterday to replace the TECs with around 50 regional "Learning & Skills Councils", covering all aspects of Education and Training for 16-19 year olds. An annual saving of £50 million is expected.

"The present system is bedevilled by what I describe as a Soviet-style wholesale distribution network where a contracting system results in people taking a cut at every stage before the learner gets the resources," Mr Blunkett said.

But the local Bradford newspaper, the T&A, began a campaign to save the agency. The T&A, which has a place on the TEC board, has received £85,000 a year in advertising and other revenue from the TEC.

Set up in 1991 as private companies, the TECs soon developed a record of mismanagement and excess. In 1995 the National Audit reported over £40 million was "overpaid" to the TECs - around 2.5% of the total budget.

At the same time in Bradford, TEC Chief Executive Simon Cheema had hastily "resigned" when "irregularities" were discovered. Bradford TEC moved swiftly to suppress details. Meanwhile Bradford training manager Michael Innes was convicted of fraud, having duped thousands of pounds from the TEC over a 2 year period.

In 1995 Bradford TEC came close to the bottom of a national league table of "Training for Work" value. Numbers of successful students on the scheme have continued to decline ever since. By 1997 it was 2nd from the bottom!

Bradford TEC has also suffered a stream of resignations from other senior executives ever since it started under the chairship of the arrogant and reactionary businesswoman Judith Donovan. She was finally replaced only this May.

TEC funded schemes continue to suffer from allegations of corrupt practises (see "Shooting the Messenger" - NVQ scandal).

Bradford TEC has also played a key role in the network of largely unelected and unaccountable quangos which in effect run the city. The TEC helped found another key network member - the powerful and secretive Bradford Congress.

The TEC will continue to function in it's present form for another 18 months, before the new agency, under the direction of the Regional Development Agency "Yorkshire Forward", takes over.

See also:

• Bradford TEC - details
• Who Runs Bradford - the secretive network of quangos and companies.
• The government White paper: Learning to succeed - a new framework for post-16 learning.
• "Shooting the Messenger" - NVQ scandal.
• Government TEC Comparison tables.

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