Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill

I think it would depend on the Minister, and I rather suspect that the Opposition’s attitude to the QCDA has more to do with their expectations of future glory and the wish to bring all this back and centralise it with the Secretary of State. We do not take the same view. I agree absolutely with the noble Lord, Lord Lucas, that schools should be freed up to innovate and not be restricted by an overly prescriptive curriculum. Our approach would be to have a minimum curriculum entitlement for all children and then a wide range of options for schools to offer what they believe would suit their children in their situation. Indeed, they have a duty to do that. However, a slightly more arm’s-length body such as the QCDA advising the Secretary of State is not quite such a bad idea as the Opposition think.