Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill

Clause 73: Directions by Secretary of State Debate on whether Clause 73 should stand part of the Bill. My Lords, I want to raise a small question about the interpretation of Clause 73(4). There is a very helpful section in the guidance notes, which state: ""Under subsection (4) directions under this clause may not relate to the funding of activities carried on by particular individuals or bodies. For example, the Secretary of State could not require the YPLA to fund a particular provider to deliver a particular course in respect of a young person"." That is understood, but the subsection itself concludes, ""in respect of a particular person or persons"," so my question is: where does that place the boundary? Clearly, a direction to give more money to Hills Road Sixth Form College would be prohibited, but is a direction to give more money to sixth-form colleges generally prohibited. If that is allowed, is a requirement to give more money to sixth-form colleges in Cambridge allowed? If that is allowed, what about giving more money to sixth-form colleges in Winchester, of which there is only one? Then the Secretary of State could give a direction that goes against the subsection. The logic of the subsection seems to flow ever outwards, so that there is no limit to the prohibition that it places on the Secretary of State in giving directions, unless he directs something that has no implications for any class of providers. It is not only individual providers or individuals who are referred to, he cannot give a direction that relates to a class. For instance, he cannot say that more money should be provided to support the international baccalaureate, because that is, in a way, designating a set of colleges and therefore falls foul of the subsection. It is a technical question: where does the boundary lie? Under the clause, where is the boundary between what the Secretary of State is allowed to do and what he is not?