Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill

I sympathise with the general sentiments that have been expressed by both the noble Viscount, Lord Eccles, and the noble Baroness, Lady Perry. At Second Reading, many noble Lords made clear the degree to which we were disturbed by what we felt was the unnecessary bureaucracy being introduced into the system. Over the course of the past five years we have set up the sector skills councils and revamped the apprenticeship system, and we are delighted with that. However, in some senses, as I indicated in the discussion we had about the National Apprenticeship Service on the last occasion we met in Committee, the concept of pulling the sector skills councils together within the overall umbrella of the National Apprenticeship Service is fine, but the whole bureaucracy of establishing the apprenticeship system, with its necessary certificates and frameworks, seems very heavy handed. We had an interesting debate on Friday last week about the unnecessary amount of regulation within the education sector and the number of statutory instruments that have been issued by the Department for Children, Schools and Families, which is more than for any other department. I did a calculation on this Bill. Somewhere in the region of 100 statutory instruments are likely to be issued as a result of it. I do not have my figures with me, but there is something like 150 mentions of orders and directions. Orders and directions require no affirmative or negative resolutions; they are just passed. We have to be aware of all these things.