Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill

As I have just said, one of the most important achievements of this Parliament is the introduction of the apprenticeship entitlement. That is how it is always referred to in government documents and pronouncements, except in this Bill, whose Clause 90 simply says that a person who satisfies the requirements, ""may elect for the apprenticeship scheme"." That wording is simply not strong enough. We are therefore in this amendment urging the Government to say that an individual is entitled to elect for the scheme. That is in line with the concept of an entitlement, and we earnestly hope that it is possible. That brings me to the second point, on the word "scheme". In many sections of the community, that word is frankly something that stinks. It means something low grade, like the youth training scheme, on which many people felt that they were marking time rather than moving forward in their lives. We urge the Government to drop the word "scheme". Almost any word would be better. "Entitlement" would be best, since that is what we are talking about, but the "apprenticeship offer" would be a perfectly serviceable term for what is being proposed.