Since the beginning of the 1980s, Britain has experienced a series of complex changes in economic government: the networks, policy priorities and institutional delivery of local economic development. Combining the insights of regulation theory and strategic-relational state theory, the author of this text examines the construction, implementation and role of Training and Enterprise Councils (TECs). Through the example of TECs, the author puts economic governance into context, by arguing that institutional change is driven by the short-term imperatives of the political system and not the long-term skill needs of regional and local economies.