Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill

My Lords, I, too, have enjoyed the journey through history. The YPLA was gaining in powers as the debate went on—a mixture of the Supreme Soviet and the ancien regime. I can reassure the House that the Supreme Soviet disposed of its ancien regime, which solved that problem. Of course we do not want to recreate that monster, or try to reproduce Gosplan, because we know that that would inevitably result in failure. Amendments 156, 157 and 158 concern the powers of the YPLA to intervene where a local authority is failing in its commissioning duty. I believe that there is agreement on all sides that, while we would expect that in the overwhelming majority of cases local authorities will fulfil their duties effectively, we need a backstop to protect the interests of young people and providers in case any authorities run into difficulties. Sometimes, as we know, local authorities do run into difficulties—a fact that has been mentioned here this evening. It is most appropriate that this power sits with the Young People’s Learning Agency. The YPLA will be involved already in supporting local authorities and subregional groups through the commissioning process, and so is closer to where decisions are made than the Secretary of State. To ensure that local authorities have a clear understanding of the circumstances under which they may be subject to intervention, and that there is appropriate oversight at a ministerial level to ensure that no question of a democratic deficit can arise—I know that that concerns some noble Lords—we have built in a range of safeguards governing the use of the power. The YPLA is required by Clause 71 to produce an interventions statement. There must be consultation on this statement with all appropriate bodies, which will include local authorities. The statement must be approved by the Secretary of State. Furthermore, under Clause 65(4), the YPLA must consult the Secretary of State before exercising its power of intervention under Clause 65. It is not a case of some kind of semi-supreme soviet riding roughshod over local authorities on a whim: there must be an interventions statement and, before the YPLA can exercise that power, it must consult the Secretary of State. On Amendments 159 and 160, we are committed to ensuring that colleges and providers have a route of appeal against decisions that affect them. Details of the process will be included in the national commissioning framework. We are committed to ensuring a process that addresses all concerns in a timely fashion, and I can assure the noble Baroness, Lady Sharp, that we are working with stakeholders, including the Association of Colleges, to ensure that the administrative processes reflect the requirements of all those involved. We anticipate that, while in the first instance appeals will be dealt with as close as possible to where the decision took place—that is, with local authorities, and with suitable escalation routes set out—the YPLA will be aware of any appeals made. It is not the case that the colleges will have no right of access to the YPLA, which will provide a facilitating role, including proportionate support and challenge where appropriate. There is understandable concern among some people involved in the commissioning process about the level of complexity. I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Sharp, for reminding us that, despite the dire predictions of doom and open warfare from the noble Lord, Lord Baker, colleges currently negotiate with a number of different authorities. We have no desire to make this more difficult. However, to ensure that there is timely agreement on budgets—something that understandably concerns the noble Baroness, Lady Sharp—we are committed to issuing figures to providers by the end of March. We are committed to setting budgets by 31 March each year. While the timing of the new system is still being consulted on with partners, nothing suggests that the 31 March deadline cannot be met. While it is true that there are seven stages—I thought that we were going through the Creation as the noble Baroness recounted them—a number of those processes will be conducted in parallel. I have already addressed the concern of the noble Baroness, Lady Sharp, about whether colleges can get information from the YPLA if they are not getting it from their local authority. The answer is that they can. Colleges are the source of the data that the YPLA will use to inform the local authority commissioning plans, so they will have access to them. I hope that I have given sufficient assurances. I cannot confirm the suggestion of the noble Lord, Lord Hunt, that I was the author of all of this—I am far too modest to claim that. However, as part of the supporting cast, I support the proposals. We have endeavoured to satisfy the concerns expressed by the noble Baroness, Lady Sharp. I hope that, on the basis of these assurances, she will withdraw the amendment.