Training And Enterprise Councils And The Department Of Employment

EDM number 1180 in 1993-94, proposed by Rhodri Morgan on 06/05/1994.

That this House expresses its dismay at the disastrous maladministration by the Department of Employment of its voluntary early retirement scheme which, contrary to the scheme's intention, has enabled staff in the Employment Department seconded to training and enterprise councils in Wales to pick up substantial sums of public money by taking advantage of the favourable terms offered by early retirement and then by accepting employment with the TECs to which they were previously seconded; notes with concern that of the 34 secondees who officially took early retirement, 80 per cent. have not in fact retired but are now employed by five TECs in Wales, of which Gwent TEC is the worst offender having the greatest number of former secondees on its payroll, including the Chief Executive; call on the Chairman of Gwent TEC and his Chief Executive, a civil servant who has taken advantage of voluntary early retirement whilst taking full employment, to reconsider their positions in light of this gravy train scheme; and calls on the Department of Employment to alter the status of TECs to recognise their position as public sector funded organisations so that the normal clawback provisions preventing this form of abuse apply as they do to all other local government and Civil Service voluntary early retirement schemes.

This motion has been signed by a total of 36 MPs.