Training and enterprise councils (TECs) were local bodies established in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

in the early 1990s to administer publicly funded training programmes, replacing the former

Manpower Services Commission The Manpower Services Commission (MSC) was a non-departmental public body of the Department of Employment Group in the United Kingdom created by Edward Heath's Conservative Government in 1973. The MSC had a remit to co-ordinate employment and tr ...

. The first group of 19 TECs were launched in 1990. TECs managed various schemes including Youth Training (formerly known as the

Youth Training Scheme The Youth Training Scheme (YTS) was the name in the United Kingdom of an on-the-job training course for school leavers aged 16 and 17 and was managed by the Manpower Services Commission. The scheme was first outlined in the 1980 white paper ''A Ne ...

) and the early

modern apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...

. They also promoted training and business enterprise with local organisations. TECs operated as private limited companies and reported on their progress to their regional government office. The TECs were abolished in April 2001 under the

Learning and Skills Act 2000 The Learning and Skills Act 2000 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It made changes in the funding and administration of further education, and of work-based learning (or apprenticeships) for young people, within England and Wale ...

. In England, their functions, along with those of the Further Education Funding Council, were taken over by the

Learning and Skills Council The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) was a non-departmental public body jointly sponsored by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) in England. It closed on 31 Marc ...

. In Wales, they were replaced by

ELWa ELWa was an Assembly Sponsored Public Body responsible for post-16 learning in Wales, active from 2000 to 2006. ELWa's functions are now exercised by the Assembly Government's Department for Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills. Form ...

. In the final stages there were around 82 (the reported numbers vary) each on average receiving £32–38 million a year. The TECs were largely unaccountable and the basis of operation varied greatly from area to area. For instance Kent TEC was a large-scale operation integrated into the Kent County Council while in Wigan the TEC was based in a lock-up garage.

References

Defunct public bodies of the United Kingdom Educational organisations based in the United Kingdom Employment in the United Kingdom Youth employment {{UK-org-stub

See also

References