Training chiefs' pounds 1 liability attacked

CHRIS BLACKHURST

An all-party committee of MPs yesterday expressed "grave concern" that directors of Training and Enterprise Councils - private companies set up with more than pounds 1.4bn of taxpayers' money to manage young people's training - have a personal liability of just pounds 1 each in the event of failure.

The criticism from the Commons Public Accounts Committee, which has a majority of Tory members, comes in the wake of the collapse of the TEC in South Thames.

Stephen Byers, Labour's education and employment spokesman, called for changes in the accountability of TEC directors. "It is simply unacceptable that people responsible for spending such large sums of public money have personal liability of just pounds 1," he said. "Changes must be introduced which will ensure that directors are held liable for reckless spending."

In the case of South Thames, the chief executive, Michael Hanson, retired because of ill-health. Soon after the board agreed to make him an ex gratia payment of pounds 30,375. "Would the directors of South Thames have acted in this cavalier way if they could be held personally responsible for such spending?", Mr Byers asked.

Another area that caused the committee disquiet was the accumulating by the TECs of hundreds of millions of pounds in reserves.