BUSINESS people who welcomed the introduction of tough standards and league tables into the education system are about to get a taste of their own medicine.

The new Training Standards Council will bring to businesses and training organisations the equivalent of the Ofsted inspections so dreaded by schools.

It has been set up in offices at Nash Court, Oxford Business Park, on the site of Rover's former North and South Works.

Minister for Lifelong Learning Kim Howells officially opened the headquarters, unveiling a commemorative plaque.

He said: "The TSC is helping to identify the strengths and weaknesses of training in Britain. It is there to help organisations take a critical look at themselves."

The council's chairman is Nick Reilly, chairman of Vauxhall Motors. He said: "Work-based learning reaches out to people whose formal education may not have been right for their needs. We want to offer a valid choice to a 16-year-old between school, college or learning at work."

Every training body which takes Government money will be involved, including further education colleges and Training and Enterprise Councils, as well as training funded from the New Deal, European Social Fund or Single Regeneration Budget. In the next few weeks the first 20 reports are due to be published on the Internet, on the quality of some of England's 2,000 training providers of work-based learning.

Each organisation must assess itself annually on a five-point scale, with an outside inspection every four years.

If necessary, training providers may have to put pressure on companies who are using Government funds, but not helping their trainees to improve.

Chief Inspector of Training David Sherlock said: "Our job is not to name and shame, the hope is to help improvement. However, where people are not doing the job properly we won't be slow in saying so."

There will eventually be 350 to 400 full- and part-time inspectors who will work from their homes throughout England as well as the 30 support staff working in Cowley.

Mr Sherlock said Oxford was one of the nation's brand leaders in learning.

"Location in Oxford will help us to raise the status of work-based learning as well as raising its standard," he said.

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