Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill

I thank the Minister for his clear statement that FE and sixth-form colleges will not have a catchment area and will continue to enjoy the freedom that they have. That is most welcome. It will be welcomed by FE and sixth-form colleges across the country. I also fully recognise the amount of money that is spent on FE. It started under the previous Conservative Government and has continued strongly under the present Government. That has resulted in magnificent colleges and national institutions. Matthew Bolton College in Birmingham is a national institution. It is a magnificent, university-standard building. So are the Middlesbrough colleges. However, I have to point out that the handbrake is on. It is not about a foot off the accelerator or stopping the car, but the amount that will be spent in the next three or four years is a small proportion of what has been spent in the past three years. Many projects will not go ahead. This is not quite the moment to debate this, but it is a grave disappointment, because the main instrument of the Government delivering school leaving up to 18 will be the FE colleges and the school sixth-form colleges, and it is those capital programmes that are being slashed to ribbons. I was also glad that the Minister and the whole Government are now keen on funding following the learner. That was not always the case with the noble Lord’s party when we introduced it back in the 1980s and when we introduced per capita funding and did away with block grants. Money following the learner is absolutely right. Everyone agrees with it. I see that the noble Baroness is nodding. Nod a bit harder, because the ultimate conclusion of that is to give the learner the funding, so that learners themselves can decide which course they want to go to. Then you do not need sub-regional and regional planning bodies and government planning bodies; you trust the person receiving the public service. I am told that that is the Prime Minister's policy. Of course funding follows the learner, but there has been a fundamental shift in power, which my noble friend Lady Perry has correctly identified. If we allow local authorities to commission, they will have a power that they have not had for the past 25 years. Local authorities will be under pressure from existing schools, some of which will want sixth forms and some of which will want to extend their sixth forms. They will be under pressure from local councillors who say that they want their school to expand into the sixth form, so that pupils do not go to the sixth-form college. In the past, that matter was decided centrally by the Government, because they provided the funding. We will go back to lots of local squabbles and fights. I see a Peer who is not actually in the House, but is standing at the Bar, who knows a great deal about education and is nodding. I see lots of nodding opposite. We would like your votes on all this one day. That will be the problem: there will be a lot of local squabbling again, just like pre-1992. That is for another day, but I should like some undertaking from the Minister today.