Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill

Imagination is a wonderful thing. This is definitely one for the connoisseurs. I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Elton, for the time and attention he has given to the Bill and to how it could be simplified and made straightforward. Clauses 5 and 6 give the Welsh Ministers the power to issue certificates, provided that the Welsh completion conditions have been met. While I appreciate the noble Lord’s desire to reduce the length of the Bill, Amendments 7 and 8 would instead reduce the level of clarity that we seek, which is to be certain that the Welsh Ministers’ powers are prescribed in a manner that is by regulation. Removing Clause 6(2) would mean that the "prescribed manner" referred to in Clauses 5 and 6 was not defined, and it would not be clear that it means prescribed by regulations by Welsh Ministers. I told you that this was one for the connoisseurs. Clause 256 provides a definition of "prescribed" for the Secretary of State as meaning "prescribed by regulations", which is why Clause 1 does not need the same definition. On the basis of those explanations, I therefore ask the noble Lord to withdraw his amendment. If there is any doubt in our minds that we have not addressed this issue properly then naturally we will look at it, but we believe that there is a distinction between the two, which I have just defined. That is why the word "prescribed" is used with regard to the regulations by Welsh Ministers.