Education and Skills Bill

My Lords, I appreciate my noble friend Lord Layard’s dedication in promoting the interests of those young people learning while in work. It is our policy that learning for those in work should be personalised, high quality, accredited and delivered in a way that engages the young person and suits their individual needs and interests. Some young people learn best when they can see the immediate practical relevance and application of what they are learning. I absolutely agree with my noble friend that the learning that young people are undertaking must be of the very highest quality, that it must involve actual, guided learning, and that young people must be learning new things, not simply doing their day-to-day jobs. I know that my noble friend previously had concerns that Clause 8 as drafted could allow a ““way out”” for employers, but the clause states that a young person can be deemed to be participating in enough training if they are participating in a course or courses leading to an accredited qualification that has been assigned enough guided learning hours. This does not mean that employers can simply sign a young person up for a qualification for which they already have the skills and get them accredited without providing any actual guided learning. That would very clearly not meet the terms of the legislation. I said on Report that we would consider whether, in the specific and limited case where employers are providing and funding the accredited training themselves, there is more we need to do to ensure that the clear requirements set out in the legislation, as I have just described, are actually adhered to in practice. Having considered this further, I can say today that we will indicate in statutory guidance to local authorities that where a young person is registered as participating in employer-funded training, we expect the authority proactively to check that a course involving actual guided learning is being followed. Given that I agree with my noble friend that it is unlikely that a high quality learning programme would not involve time away from the work station, we will also indicate in the guidance that we would expect a substantial amount of the guided learning to be away from the work station. We will ensure that this is also set out in the guidance that we have promised to give to employers, and on which we will consult with employers and their representatives. I am grateful to my noble friend for continuing to raise these important issues, and I hope that he will be reassured that we are equally committed to ensuring the quality of the learning experience for young people. I hope also that he will agree that the commitments I have made today emphasise this, and that he will withdraw his amendment and support this important Bill.