Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill

My Lords, I speak to Amendment 240A, tabled in my name and those of other noble Lords, together with Amendment 255A, which is an amendment to Clause 138. The two amendments are linked, but I shall say more about the second. They may appear to be rather limited, but they bear on fundamental questions of the independence of the regulation of assessments for regulated qualifications and thereby on the public reputation of those qualifications. We all know that beyond these discussions today there is a raging public debate on the question of standards. It is very unclear how the provisions that we are now considering relate to that debate about standards. I want to say a little bit about that. Amendment 240A specifies that in performing its functions Ofqual should have regard to the need to ensure that there are sufficient regulated qualifications to assess the national curriculum and other QCDA curricula. It goes beyond the duty to ensure that the number of regulated qualifications is appropriate, which we have already discussed to some degree. This is not a matter of the number; it is a matter of the regulated qualifications having the right sort of connection to the national curriculum and QCDA qualifications. I suspect that if I withdraw this amendment and bring it back on Report, I will try to cover the case of non-QCDA qualifications. The point of the amendment is to establish a duty for Ofqual, the regulator responsible for the standards of assessment of regulated qualifications, to ensure that enough appropriate examinations are provided. The amendment explicitly links Ofqual duties to QCDA curricula. I fancy, though I cannot be sure, that it is the lack of an adequate way of making that connection in the Bill that has led to the introduction of Clause 138, which empowers the Secretary of State to reach in to the supposedly independent regulator. On Amendment 255A, Clause 138(1) provides: ""The Secretary of State may make a determination specifying minimum requirements in respect of a specified qualification, or description of qualification"." Like many other noble Lords, I believe that as drafted this power runs dangerously wide and risks undermining the very independence that is sought for Ofqual and thereby also its public reputation as guardian of standards for regulated qualifications. It has been suggested that a power to set minimum requirements will not be risky because it is not a power to set minimum standards. I believe that, as a verbal matter, that is correct: requirements are distinct from standards. However, I do not believe that even specifying requirements should be a matter for the Secretary of State to determine, even if is it done transparently. The issue of standards is very serious, but it cannot be addressed by giving the Secretary of State reach-in powers. In setting requirements, unfortunately, it is all too easy to alter standards. Of course, we can all give examples of cases where requirements are altered without substantially altering standards. Substituting one set text for another set text in an examination where the texts are clearly of roughly equivalent difficulty might be an example of altering a requirement without altering a standard. However, there are many other ways of altering requirements that do alter standards—for example, requiring that some additional subject matter or skill be examined or not examined. Some changes in requirements raise standards in some respects but lower them in other respects. Clause 138 creates far too wide a power for the Secretary of State to reach in to alter requirements in a way that will leave the Secretary of State altering standards. Amendment 255A would circumscribe that power by requiring that it can be exercised only provided that Ofqual reports that it does not affect standards. In effect, it gives the power to determine whether standards are altered to Ofqual. The amendment is closely related to, but rather stronger than, Amendment 255B tabled by the Opposition, which provides that the power be exercised only if Ofqual reports that this does not lower standards. Amendment 255B still risks Ofqual’s independence and reputation, because it allows the Secretary of State to make determinations that in his or her judgment will raise standards. That power should not be vested in the Secretary of State, in view of the difficulty in judging what raises and what lowers which standards. I recognise that Amendments 255A and 255B are much weaker than the Liberal Democrats’ intention to oppose Clause 138 standing part of the Bill, thereby eliminating any power for the Secretary of State to make determinations specifying minimum requirements and limiting his or her power to reach in to alter or raise standards. There is more than one way of skinning this cat, but it needs skinning. The power in Clause 138 is far too widely drafted. It undermines Ofqual’s independence—and the independence of Ofqual is the primary purpose of this part of the Bill, as is the separation of Ofqual from QCDA. By undermining Ofqual’s independence, the clause also risks its reputation. I beg to move.