Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill

I want to be very clear about my intention. I have listened very carefully to all that noble Lords have said in this debate and am cognisant of the pain in disappointing my noble friends, particularly my noble friend Lady Wall when she talked about Clause 35. I very much take on board the concerns raised by noble Lords and, as they suggest, I will take this away and give it some careful consideration. I cannot emphasise too much that the concerns raised this evening are completely opposite to what we are trying to achieve. We really must do an awful lot better than we have done already. I will take a few minutes to explain the Government’s thinking behind the work that we have done and will specifically speak to Amendments 65, 67, 68 69 and 70A. Their intention is to ensure that schools provide information about apprenticeships and apprenticeship sectors to all pupils, alongside other post-16 options. I reassure noble Lords that existing legislation in the Education Act 1997 and the Education and Skills Act 2008, to which many noble Lords have referred, already does that. But these are new expectations being placed on schools, so their benefit will take time to come through. I understand noble Lords’ frustration about that. However, the expectation is that schools will provide every pupil with information about every post-16 option, and that must include apprenticeships. I really do understand why that might not be clear from just reading the Bill, so I will explain how we got to this point, how this clause fits with existing duties around careers education and how it follows on naturally from the steps that we all took when we agreed the 2008 Act to ensure that the pupil’s interests come first. Section 43 of the Education Act 1997 obliged all schools to provide a programme of careers education to all pupils in years seven to 11, access to guidance and a range of up-to-date materials on careers options. But, as many noble Lords have pointed out, there was nothing to make sure that they got access to advice about all routes. There was also evidence—as noble Lords have stressed—to suggest that some schools were putting their interests above those of their pupils and promoting their own learning provision. The provisions in the Education and Skills Act 2008 were a direct response to that. I am glad that noble Lords still feel positive about the steps that we took in that Act. In Section 43(2)(b) of that Act, which will be very familiar to noble Lords, we imposed a duty to ensure that all information is provided impartially and that advice is given that promotes the best interests of the pupils. In fact, we even made amendments which expressly forbid schools from promoting their own interests. That was an additional step. We also took powers in the Education and Skills Act 2008 to issue statutory guidance—to which my noble friend Lady Wall referred—on careers education, which is currently out for formal, public consultation and will be published this autumn. I will ensure that noble Lords who have not yet seen that will be able to see it by putting a copy in the Library. It sets out the core information that all young people should receive on post-16 learning options. It contains extensive information on apprenticeships, including the benefits of taking an apprenticeship, wage returns, apprenticeship sectors, progression to higher education from apprenticeship and employment opportunities available locally. This is important guidance and we hope that it will ensure that all young people get the information and advice that they need to inform their decision-making. However, this is not just about the provision of information, as others have said. It is also about making sure that teachers and careers advisers are properly trained and supported to do a good job for those whom they serve. Nothing that we are doing in this Bill alters the underlying legislative position. All that we are aiming to do is to ensure that, when a school is talking to a pupil and giving them tailored advice about which option might be in their best interest, the school must have properly considered an apprenticeship as an option. That is our intention, but it is obviously not what is reading through and reaching the many more than 11 noble Lords who have spoken in this debate. The advice still has to be impartial and schools still cannot promote their own interests—that is specifically prohibited under Section 43(2)(b) of the Education and Skills Act 2008. Every pupil will also be given information about what an apprenticeship is and what it can offer. We are not changing that. Why are we doing this? As the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pointed out in another place, too many schools over previous years have undervalued apprenticeships. This Bill—alongside the 2008 legislation—should send a clear message to schools that an apprenticeship is a good route for many and cannot just be discounted when schools are considering which route might be best for pupils. Of course legislation is only part of the solution; I have heard that message and agree totally. That is why this will be underpinned by a range of other measures to secure the improvements that we seek in information and advice on all post-16 learning pathways, including apprenticeships. I do not want to go on, but I re-emphasise the importance of this debate, to which I have listened very carefully. I will write to noble Lords about the other measures involved in training teachers, developing initial teacher training, developing careers co-ordinators and developing the teaching workforce more specifically and I will set out clearly for noble Lords what the guidance expects to be delivered in schools. The noble Lord, Lord Baker, referred to the work that he did with Lord Dearing in the past and I again take this opportunity, as I did at Second Reading, to welcome the work that he has been doing and to say how much I support it. It is tremendous that he is promoting what I think the noble Baroness, Lady Morris, called "whatever you call them" colleges, although he referred to them as technical colleges—maybe one day they might become Baker-Dearing colleges. I would very much like to express my support for the work that the noble Lord is doing. I hope that, with these comments and my commitment to provide the Committee with further and fuller information about the comprehensive programme that we are engaging in to ensure that young people receive comprehensive and independent advice in schools, noble Lords and noble friends will consider not pressing their amendments.