Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill

Amendment 74 stands in my name and that of the noble Baroness, Lady Sharp of Guildford. I shall speak also to Amendment 175 which, again, stands in both our names. I remind the Committee that in the Care Matters White Paper in 2007 one of the facts highlighted was that 30 per cent of care leavers are not in employment, education or training. It is a large percentage of care leavers. I hope that the Bill will go a long way to addressing that point, but I hope also that we may be able to go further, which is what my amendments strive to do. The Minister spoke of the long summer break that we will be having. I hope that in the course of the summer break the Government might look carefully at the Bill and see whether any measures might be introduced into it specifically for care leavers and looked-after children and what more might be done in enabling more of those young people to have access to apprenticeships. Amendment 74 would oblige local authorities and government departments, wherever possible, to prioritise care leavers when those organisations have apprenticeship agreements. My amendment would assist Her Majesty’s Government in their aspiration for improving outcomes for care leavers. The Care Matters White Paper highlighted the way in which many young people in care do not receive the support that they need in order to be successful in life. To remedy that failure on our part, the Government have introduced a raft of measures, including priority for looked-after children in school admissions. They have the first admission priority. These amendments follow the Government’s precedent in those other areas. My intention at this stage is simply to probe the Government, but I hope that the Minister will at least accept the principle behind the amendments. We have special duties to these children and I hope that the Minister will agree that we should take every opportunity to discharge them. My amendment gives a priority to care leavers wherever possible. It is not my intention that care leavers should be shoe-horned into apprenticeships where they are likely not to do well. As your Lordships will be aware, many care leavers have experienced lack of stability in care and a disruptive education. They often still leave at the age of 16 and often find themselves placed in inappropriate accommodation. It seems wholly sensible therefore to extend this duty to the age of 25, which would allow them the extra time that they need to find their feet and to access employment and training. By prioritising care leavers in this way, we are also protecting ourselves against the cost and harm of allowing these young people to fail. Care leavers are heavily over-represented in the criminal justice system. However, an apprenticeship may divert many care leavers from this route. The young offender programme developed by National Grid has reduced reoffending rates from 70 per cent to below 7 per cent by getting offenders into work. I declare my interest as having accepted hospitality from National Grid in the past. This amendment or something similar might prevent some care leavers from entering this vicious circle downwards. Amendment 175 would allow the chief executive of skills funding to secure provision of facilities for suitable apprenticeship training for care leavers from the age of 16 to 25. It would give care leavers an extra window of several years. As I have said, many care leavers have experienced disruption in their family lives and education, and may come to maturity late. Often, they are given responsibilities too early and far beyond their capacities. This amendment would give them an extra chance to benefit from the Bill. Many care leavers will seize this chance once they have recovered from the early disruption I have described. This amendment reflects the precedent set in the Children (Leaving Care) Act, which gave local authorities responsibility to support care leavers in educational training to the age of 25. I should be grateful for the Minister’s comments on how these amendments interact with the Children (Leaving Care) Act. My wording may be faulty, but I hope that the Minister can accept the spirit of these amendments. I look forward to his response. I beg to move.