Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill

My Lords, I, too, should like to pick up on Amendment 120. This is quite a disparate group of amendments, but I welcome in particular government Amendments 106 and 120—amendments which deal with issues which a range of organisations representing disabled people have been concerned with and in discussion with the Government about, as the noble Lord mentioned. I have a connection with a good many of those organisations, as president of Skill and now vice-president of the RNIB, so I declare those interests. Amendment 106 provides a power to extend apprenticeship offers to prescribed groups up to the age of 25, while Amendment 120 provides a power to make regulations setting alternative qualifying criteria for young people with learning difficulties who wish to apply to do an apprenticeship. The idea is to introduce a flexible system whereby those who might not be able to fulfil the minimum requirements on account of their disability will be able to submit an alternative portfolio of evidence that they are in fact ready and able to undertake an apprenticeship. Indeed, the Alliance for Inclusive Education has asked that a similarly flexible approach should be adopted in relation to those apprenticeship schemes—I suppose that they will be called "offers" in the future—that stipulate criteria higher than the minimum. I believe that the Government should monitor such schemes or offers carefully to make sure that stricter criteria are specified only in cases where it is appropriate to do so and are not specified unless there is a clear justification for it. These amendments are something for which organisations representing disabled people have been asking and they are very much to be welcomed. I know that the noble Lord, Lord Rix, if he had been here, would have wanted to echo what I have said in extending a warm welcome to them. Indeed, he is very sorry that he is not able to be present at this stage and has asked me to associate him with my remarks. I want to make a few more comments with which I think he would also be glad to be associated. The reason that organisations representing disabled people welcome these amendments so warmly is that they are concerned that the extension of the apprenticeship entitlement to 25 should not be confined just to those with a learning disability assessment but should also encompass the broader group of those with any learning difficulty significantly greater than their peers’ but who may not have had a learning difficulty assessment; in other words, the broader group of those with learning difficulties identified in this legislation. The Government have made it clear that they could not commit to such an extension in terms at this stage, but these amendments create the space for future regulations and guidance to be framed using the wider definition of "learning difficulty" to which I have just referred. Ministers are taking powers to permit the use of alternative evidence of ability and to extend the entitlement to 25 for the broader category of people with a learning difficulty, but taking these powers makes a difference only to the extent that Ministers take steps to use them. In that regard, I want to ask the Minister for certain commitments. First, we need him to commit to a specific timescale. Full implementation of the Bill has a fairly extended timescale, with statutory guidance due only in a year’s time. We could easily lose momentum if we do not get moving earlier than that. Next, I would like to hear a commitment to work with key stakeholders without delay on developing the regulations and guidance—I think we have already heard that from the Minister in introducing the amendments—and on immediate practical steps that can be taken by the National Apprenticeship Service and partners to encourage increased participation of disabled young people. The reason that that is so important is that the latest data made available by the National Apprenticeship Service highlight the fact that the apprenticeship participation of learners with learning difficulties and learning disabilities aged 19 to 25 is currently lower than that of the cohorts both younger and older than this cohort. That should make it a matter of urgency to work on this following the Bill’s enactment, as many disabled young people between the ages of 19 and 25 are ready to enter apprenticeships. I believe that the National Apprenticeship Service would be open to this, but it will need the support of other agencies, such as the YPLA, and a clear lead from Ministers and the SFA. In turn, providers will need to have adjusted minimum levels of performance, as these can be a real disincentive to recruiting disabled apprentices at present. In other words, there needs to be a clear message from the top that recruitment of disabled apprentices should be a priority, which, I fear, we have not heard to date. As things stand, disabled young people get quite a good deal from the LSC. It would be of major reassurance to the field if the Minister made a commitment that they will receive no less priority under the new regime being enacted under this legislation. Lastly, I ask the Minister to commit to providing a Written Ministerial Statement on progress made in three or four months’ time—in other words, before we have an election. In summary, I am asking the Minister for four commitments: a timescale for exercising the powers that are being taken under this legislation; to work with stakeholders on regulations, guidance and practical steps to encourage participation of those aged 19 to 25; a clear lead from the top that the recruitment of disabled apprentices should be a priority, with no less priority being given to disabled young people than they currently enjoy from the LSC; and a Written Ministerial Statement on progress in the next three or four months.