Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill

What the hon. Gentleman said on the "Today" programme, on blogs and on Twitter is probably not worth dwelling on now because to do so would not be in his interests or those of the House. We certainly know that Sir Andrew Foster, who was asked by the Government to look into these matters because they were so concerned about where things had got to, concluded in his report on the crisis that it had been "predictable and probably avoidable". We know that 79 of the colleges that have had their capital bids frozen had already received agreement in principle and were simply awaiting agreement in detail, and we know that the £300 million that the Government have committed will not do the job. These new clauses are as clear as crystal. They would help a Government to get to a position where the circumstances in which this Government find themselves would be most unlikely to occur—I shall not say impossible, because incompetence can reign regardless of law. However, law must at least be in place to mitigate the results of the sort of incompetence, miscommunication, failure to act and lack of accountability that lay at the heart of this crisis. We propose in our amendments that the House receives reports, with properly collected information from across the country, that match the state of the college estate to the bids for capital funding. It is remarkable that the Minister says that that information is already collected. He says that the Government have all the knowledge that they need about the state of FE colleges and the level of resources they enjoy. My goodness, if they have all that information but do not match it to bids for capital funding, what sort of organisation is the Learning and Skills Council and what sort of Ministers have we had who have not held that body to account? After all, it is a Government agency and there must be some sort of line of report, even if the Minister was not himself in office at the time. It is essential for the good of our colleges that we avoid similar crises in the future. It is essential for good governance that we have the right information, and it is certainly essential for the further education and training needs and skills that our people deserve that we have better Ministers. I wish to press new clause 1 to a Division because I want to test the House's opinion on whether this sort of thing is excusable or whether it thinks, as I do, that it is unforgivable. Question put, That the clause be read a Second time. The House divided: Ayes 181, Noes 273.