Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill

My Lords, paragraph 8 of Schedule 8 is five pages long so, if it were removed, it might reduce the Bill a bit. It sets out new powers for local authorities and the Young People’s Learning Agency to enable them to intervene in the business of a sixth-form college when it is judged to be failing. This probing amendment would remove all the intervention powers for the YPLA and local authorities. The Association of Colleges, which represents sixth-form colleges, points out that they are among the most successful institutions within the education sector; the Minister underlined that in her answer in the debate on the previous amendment. Sixth-form colleges produce excellent exam results, often for the most deprived young people and in the most disadvantaged areas. This is demonstrated by the fact that, between October 2006 and January 2009, 81 per cent of the 80 sixth-form colleges inspected by Ofsted received an outstanding or good grade. Sixth-form colleges therefore have a proven record of high performance, so it is, one hopes, extremely unlikely that any sixth-form college will fall victim to the circumstances listed in subsection (2) of proposed new Section 56E of the Further and Higher Education Act 1992. New Section 56E(2)(d) states that a local authority may intervene if, ""the sixth form college is performing significantly less well than it might in all the circumstances reasonably be expected to perform, or is failing or likely to fail to give an accepted standard of education or training"." This wording reflects the wording that will apply to the Skills Funding Agency’s intervention powers in relation to further education colleges. It would therefore be useful if the Minister could clarify whether the SFA and local authorities are using identical criteria when they determine whether to intervene. How will these criteria relate to those that may be used when local authorities assess the performance of school sixth forms? All three types of institutions will be educating the same age group, so it seems fair that they should be judged on the same basis before the relatively serious step of intervening in the affairs of an autonomous institution is taken. As I understand it, when intervening, local authorities will be able to remove all or any of the members of the governing body, appoint new members and give directions to the governing body. New Section 56H also allows the Young People’s Learning Agency the opportunity to intervene in the business of sixth-form colleges and take the same steps. It would be useful if the Minister could clarify when she envisages it would be appropriate for a local authority to intervene and when the YPLA should intervene. If she could produce some illustrations of the sorts of situations that might produce that, it would be helpful. I beg to move.