With the fate of individual National Training Organisations still under discussion, moves are being made to merge the Engineering and Marine Training Authority (EMTA) with the troubled NTO tele.com, the NTO for the telecoms industry.

Last November the NTO tele.com went into receivership after problems with a training contract left the organisation (and ultimately the DfEE) with debts of £10m. Having worked closely with the NTO tele.com in the past, the EMTA had already stepped in to offer a merger package last July, when they realised there had been problems at the NTO tele.com. The merger was accepted by the NTO tele.com's board, which is made up of representatives from most of the major companies in the industry, including BT, Nortel, Vodafone and the Armed Forces, but the Department for Education and Employment, who have the final say in any mergers, felt a consultation was needed first.

The consultation process began in January and is due to finish at the end of this month, but it's likely that any decision will be further complicated by the review of the entire NTO network itself. The EMTA have offered the telecoms industry proportional representation on the EMTA governing council, identical membership arrangements and the possibility of a name change to reflect both organisations. As a gesture of goodwill, BT employee, David Thomas, the current chairman of ntotele.com has been co-opted onto EMTA's governing Council.

Details of the consultation can be found at