Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill

To a degree, I am reassured by what the Minister has said and I thank him very much for the full answer that he has given on these various amendments. His point—that the learner needs to be at the centre of the system—is the key issue here. I questioned him about participation in mainstream activities and he quite rightly pointed out that the key issue is choice on the part of the learner. There are some, however, who, rather than being sent off to special classes because they have learning difficulties, actually want to be included. We all know that, in that sense, the concept of inclusion is very important, both in terms of building one’s own self-confidence and in terms of one’s feeling of one’s own stature within society. So this is important. I am grateful to the Minister for spelling out the ways in which he sees these different services panning out. In terms of the year 9 and transition assessments, the record of local authorities on those with learning difficulties is not a good one and we have yet to see how far this system, which under Clause 40 extends the old system of assessments through to young people from 16 to 19, will go. We live in hope that the new assessments will translate into something meaningful for these young people. However, as I say, I am grateful to the Minister for his full reply and I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment 92 withdrawn.