RHA urges Tebbit to close MOTEC
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WAR OF WORDS between the Road Haulage Association and Road Transport Industry Training Board has broken out again, 1 the RHA asking Employment Secretary Norman Tebbit to trse last December's decision to keep the High Ercall Motec n, reports ALAN MILLAR.
-IA director general Freddie kett has written to Mr Tebbit, ng that employers' interests being harmed because it is possible for the 15 trade m and education representaon the board to out-vote nine employer representas.
at the RHA's appeal is likely all on deaf ears, as EmployIt Under Secretary Peter rison believes that there is ling the Government can do
mo months have done nothto cool the RHA representas' ire over the Motec (Multiupational Training and EduDn Centre) decision, even agh the RTITB appears to be :he brink of winning outside iness for the centre, and Mr kett wants Mr Tebbit to over
rule the board's decision to keep it open.
He described Motec, which recently has been handling classes with as few as 23 apprentices and at present has a staff of 74, as a "white elephant" which should be closed. That, he said, would save £1.25m "levied from hard-pressed hauliers".
He accused the board of throwing this sum away on the "doubtful premise" that such a "worthless asset" ever could become viable in the future.
RHA representatives on the board believe that the work carried out at High Ercall could be conducted more cost-effectively by group training associations, colleges and in-house training schools.
They also are disturbed that substantial proportions of their levy are being channelled into High Ercall and administrating the RTITB, and that they can still be out-voted on the board, even although only they provide its income.
The cost reductions, which the RHA views with scepticism, are being conducted in a six-month exercise starting on April 1, and High Ercall general manager Hugh Thompson has assured board members that the £1.25m running costs can be reduced to £500,000.
It is likely that around 20 per cent of the staff at the centre will be made redundant, while efforts are being made to offer training facilities to out-of-scope industries.
As a step towards this, talks are well advanced between the RTITB and the Manpower Services Commission on providing places for 108 school leavers on the Government's Youth Training Scheme, with the first of three batches of trainees going to High Ercall in mid-April.
The YTS specifies a minimum of 13 weeks' off-the-job training, which would be provided at Motec, and the RTITB would act as a managing agent for the MSC. A similar arrangement is being carried out at the Livingston Motec, in West Lothian.
The High Ercall project is confined to school leavers from the Shropshire region, but it nonetheless appears to preempt an RHA claim that the centre's rural location and high running costs have already ruled out its suitability for youth training.
According to Mr Plaskett, the MSC said this in a recent letter to RTITB chairman Fred Lloyd, but the Board says that the present scheme is being discussed at regional level, and that the earlier MSC rejection would only apply to a national scheme.