Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill

My Lords, as I think the Minister will be aware, I detect a general view on all sides of the Committee that this is not a simple system. As my noble friend Lord Baker of Dorking put it, there is great worry that it will be a rather complicated system which a lot of people will find very difficult to operate within. However much guidance you supply, the more bodies you create, the more complex the structure automatically becomes. In a way, there is a demand—we should just have one main body, instead of trying to divide responsibilities. That has come across in a number of these debates. I say to the noble Baronesses, Lady Sharp of Guildford and Lady Howe of Idlicote, that I recognise that there are one or two things about the amendment that render it slightly imperfect, and I will take them away to consider them. I apologise to the noble Baroness, Lady Sharp of Guildford, for not explaining at the outset that I did carefully think about the point that she raised on Monday, and I endeavoured to put it as a matter of principle and practice in moving the amendment rather than tying myself to the precise detail. Coming back to the point raised by my noble friends Lord Elton and Lord Lucas, I sense that we are now getting before us very complicated legislation. I know that the Government have been in power for—what is it?—12 years now, and they have a lot to answer for. They keep amending, reamending and creating new bodies here and there, with new emphases. Do they not realise that they are creating more complications and more bureaucracy all the time? There must be a simpler solution and a more streamlined operation. My spirits were uplifted when the Minister said that she agreed with much of what my noble friend Lord Baker of Dorking said. I hope that she will read the comments that he made, because I sense that they were echoed right around the Chamber. If she manages to come forward on Report with a series of amendments that present a streamlined, easy-to-understand approach that will make life less complicated, there will be general approval. Will she permit us a little cynicism and scepticism about whether that is likely to happen? As my noble friend pointed out, we are dealing with a number of ministerial responsibilities and a number of different departments, and life is getting too complicated. I am worried about the bureaucracy. Whoever is going to operate the system will need more than just guidance; they will have to simplify the system. Where better to do that than in the legislation itself, before we approve it? So many points have been raised in what has been a valuable and short debate. I hope that the Minister will do a little bit more. I heard her say "partnership" and mention a "common assessment approach", which I warmly applaud. I hope that she recognises that we are looking for a little bit more to try to reassure everyone who has to operate in what is going to be a very complicated field. That is the purpose of my amendment. I am delighted that it has had the effect it has, which was to make the Minister think pretty deeply about exactly what she and her ministerial colleagues are creating. Against that background, I have much pleasure in withdrawing the amendment. Amendment 154 withdrawn.