By Lucy Phillips
17 November 2010
The quango responsible for training people who work with children is to be abolished, the government has announced.
Speaking at a conference organised by childcare charity Daycare Trust yesterday, children’s minister Sarah Teather said vital functions of the Children’s Workforce Development Council would be brought into the Department for Education.
The announcement followed a letter from Education Secretary Michael Gove to the chair of the council, Sir Paul Ennals. It said that the quango, which employs about 200 people and was set up in 2005, would be closed down by 2012.
Gove wrote that the move was part of government efforts to reduce the number and costs of arm’s-length bodies. ‘In this tough spending climate, it is essential that we reduce spending at the centre and target our efforts where they are most needed. I do believe that the non-departmental public body model is no longer the most efficient and accountable way of meeting our aims,’ he said.
But the council’s chief executive, Jane Haywood, said it was ‘very disappointed’ by the decision. ‘We have achieved much to be proud of over the past five years and our legacy will be a long one,’ she added.
In October, the government published a review of 901 quangos and other public bodies, revealing that 192 would be scrapped and 118 merged. At the time the future of the council and several other quangos remained under consideration.
