Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill

My Lords, Amendment 139, 141, 143 and 144 will require local authorities and the YPLA to consult the governing body of a sixth-form college before exercising powers to appoint governors to it. This reflects concerns raised by noble Lords, and in particular the noble Lords opposite, in Committee. I hope the House will agree that it is a sensible safeguard to the exercise of this power. On Amendment 142, tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Lucas, we do not agree that local authorities will engage in costly and difficult interventions in sixth-form colleges in the way that he suggested in Committee. We do not believe that it would be in their interests to do so or that they would want to do so. Local authorities and sixth-form colleges have been working very closely in anticipation of the change before us. Both the Association of Colleges and the Sixth Form Colleges' Forum have agreed protocols with the local authority sector on how they plan to work together. These protocols include performance management. I hope that that offers the noble Lord some reassurance in dealing with his concerns. Schedule 8 also contains the safeguard of requiring local authorities to have regard to the YPLA’s guidance on sixth-form intervention. This is a strong duty; local authorities cannot simply ignore the YPLA’s guidance but must have strong reasons for acting against it, or they will expose themselves to potential judicial review. At the same time, "have regard to" gives the local authority an ability to tailor its response to specific circumstances of a particular sixth-form college. By contrast, the duty to "act in accordance with" in the noble Lord’s amendment would force authorities and colleges to go through a rigid, inflexible procedure that may not be appropriate in all circumstances. I hope that the noble Lord agrees and that this gives him the reassurance that he seeks on the intentions behind the provision. I hope also that the amendments that the Government have introduced give noble Lords the reassurance that they were looking for.