New Institutional Spaces

Since the beginning of the 1980s, Britain has experienced a series of changes in its economic governance aimed at reviewing the economy on a regional and national scale, and removing the increasing welfare burden on the government through state or state-encouraged investment in training. Using as an example the construction, implementation and role of one of the innovations of this period, the Training and Enterprise Councils (TECs), the author puts economic governance into context. He argues that the objectives of the state and employers are in conflict, and that institutional change is driven by short-term political imperatives and not the long-term skills needs of regional and local economies. This fresh, theoretically-grounded perspective focuses on: The theoretical background and political construction of economic development projects The growing links between the labour markets and social security policy, such as the New Deal The development of British workfare as 'trainingfare' The tensions between business-led enterprise, access to skills and social citizenship The importance of local viewpoints in moulding national projects The political impact of uneven development Drawing on interviews with policy-makers and practitioners, this book makes an important contribution to the debates on regulation, governance, uneven development, and the sustainability of post-Fordist political economics in the UK.