Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill

I shall speak also to Amendments 97, 99 and 100, which fall in the same grouping. Before I address them, perhaps I may say that I hope that the letter that the Minister is to send to the noble Lord, Lord Lucas, will be shared with us all, as I think that we would all be interested in seeing it. The only point that I might have made on the previous grouping was that at present the LSC commissions places at colleges, as the noble Lord well knows. Essentially, it commissions places generally for those aged 16 to 19. It does not commission specific provision, although there is some negotiation with the LSC about that. If there is excess demand, essentially the local authority negotiates with the LSC about whether funding is available. As I see it, that is where the difficulty for local authorities lies. The LSC has a very large pot of money, whereas local authorities have a much more limited pot, which frequently has many other calls on it. That is where the difficulties would arise. I shall now address the amendments. As the noble Lord, Lord Lucas, said, we have shifted our attention from issues such as apprenticeships and time off for training to the role of local authorities in the provision of nought to 19, cradle to college, education. Here, we are looking particularly at the provision of education for 16 to 19 year-olds. That is to go back to local authorities, which will now have a new duty. In particular, under Clause 40(1) it will be incumbent on them to meet the reasonable needs of learners in the area that they serve and, under subsection (3)(b), to have particular regard to any learning difficulties that individual learners may have. To some extent, we have already rehearsed the fact that the record of local authorities in this area is, to say the least, somewhat mixed. As a result, we have sought, through a succession of education Bills in this House, to make more explicit the precise duties of local authorities in this regard. These amendments are in that tradition. They pick up the whole question of what local authorities’ duties are to those with learning difficulties and they try to probe further precisely what they should be. Amendment 92 would ensure that local education authorities have due regard to their responsibility to promote inclusion. Clause 40(4) places a duty on local authorities to act with a view to increasing diversity in education and training, which, to my mind, in government-speak means increasing the choice of courses available to the individual. However, that is not the same as inclusion, which means more attention being paid to person-centred assessments and advice and guidance in the choice of courses. Amendment 92 suggests that we should have not only diversity but diversity and inclusion. To some extent, we have spelt that out in Amendment 99 in my name and that of the noble Lord, Lord Low of Dalston, which says that local authorities need to take account of, ""good provision of information … transparency in how the available levels of support are determined … integrated assessment … participation of disabled children and their families in local services; and … accessible feedback and complaints procedures"." That spells out in greater detail precisely what we mean by inclusion. I have a specific question for the Minister that has been put by the disability lobby relating to the responsibilities on the part of the YPLA on the issue of inclusion. Will those with learning difficulties be able to participate in mainstream courses, as much as in discrete courses? The experience of many of those involved in the commissioning of the education of those with learning difficulties is that frequently there has been provision of discrete courses but not inclusion within some of the mainstream ones. Will the Minister clarify whether it is Parliament’s intention that diversity of provision should include choice of mainstream courses for all those with learning difficulties who are being funded either by the YPLA or the SFA, for those with learning difficulties who are over 25, and that it is not just the provision of special courses, so that the concept of inclusion has its true meaning? They should be able to participate in mainstream courses and specialist support should be provided in those circumstances. Amendment 92 wants inclusion to be separate from diversity. The amendment is a probing one, and we want the Government to explain what they mean by diversity in this context and spell out in more detail what might be included. Amendment 97 is again a probing amendment to clarify how the Government intend to audit LEA compliance with their duties towards young people with learning difficulties. A robust needs analysis must be carried out to ensure that provision is an integral part of the widely supported sufficiency duty in the recent Childcare Act. When a similar amendment was debated in the Commons, the Government argued that structures were already in place to ensure that local authorities could be held to account for the delivery of these new duties in the Bill. In particular, they argued that the outcomes-focused performance management systems now set up within the framework of the local area agreements, combined with assessment and inspection by Ofsted, should provide sufficient pressures towards compliance. Coming from the county of Surrey, whose children’s services were judged inadequate by Ofsted, but which until that external check had been very complacent about the quality of its own provision, I have to admit that it is extremely important that these audit procedures are acted upon and are not allowed to continue without action. Amendment 97 would make sure that any such Ofsted or audit procedures are heeded and that their recommendations are followed. Amendment 100 picks up the issue of what is disproportionate. Clause 40(5) states: ""Provision is not to be considered as giving rise to disproportionate expenditure only because it is more expensive than comparable provision"." The amendment adds the rider, ""particularly when it is required to make provision for those with learning difficulties or other disabilities"." The Government know that the Special Educational Consortium is very unhappy about subsections (4)(e) and (5). It feels that the duty to secure a sufficient supply of post-16 education is unhelpfully qualified by a requirement that LEAs should avoid provision that gives rise to disproportionate expenditure. The probing amendment was withdrawn when the Government indicated that Clause 45 specifically states that provision is not to be viewed as giving rise to disproportionate expenditure and that an individual can challenge an LEA if it does not meet that criterion. The Special Educational Consortium feels that this is not a sufficient safeguard, and it should not be left to the individual to enforce the duty on the LEA. The SEC is seeking further clarification from the Minister as to why the Government believe that this qualification is necessary, particularly where there is a clear duty to secure suitable education and training that meets reasonable needs of people in their area. These four amendments seek to probe a little further and clarify precisely how the Government see the local educational authority provision meeting the needs of those with learning difficulties. I beg to move.