Training in cash crisis by Ian Wylie • Road haulage
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training is teetering on the brink of crisis as the industry's national training standards organisation wants to call in administrators.
The High Court will decide within the next few days whether to agree to a request by the directors of the Road Haulage and Distribution Training Council (RHDTC) for the appointment of an administrator. The RHDTC was one of the first national training organisations (NT0s) to be established by the Government, but last month RTITB Services, which provides the RHDTC with a third of its annual income, called in administrators.
The RTITB and its training subsidiary, Centrex, have reported losses of £6m.
However, RHDTC general manager Ian Hetherington stresses that the training council is not insolvent; it merely wants a shield from creditors while it waits to see whether the £160,000 a year it receives from the RTITB will be resumed.
If it were to close down it would leave the training industry rudderless just as driver shortages are becoming acute.
Hetherington says the direc tors are committed to securing the long-term viability of the RHDTC. In recent years the training council has been steadily increasing the proportion of funding it receives from other sources, such as fees for training standards and certification.
Newcastle-based training provider Van Hee fears that the Government might ask a national training organisation from another sector to step in and absorb haulage training. Managing director Ken Rogers warns that if the industry is to address the problem of driver shortages, it needs its own voice.
Following a meeting with Employment Minister Kim Howells, the United Road Transport Union, which has representatives on the training council, says it has been assured by the Government that it will do everything in its power to rescue the RHDTC.