Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill

That is what I am asking, too, my Lords. I am afraid that I have not received a very helpful note. If the House will indulge me, I should like to continue for a moment. On the whole question of a duty to "have regard to", of course the noble Lord, Lord Lucas, is right to say that such a duty in one part of the Bill is the same as in another. I was very clear about the fact that such a duty is not the same as "must". However—the noble Baroness, Lady Howe, asked about this—if we accepted the amendment tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Lucas, we would have an incredibly rigid set of requirements, which would make it difficult to take into account local variations. Perhaps I may deal with this at some length, for which I apologise. I am advised that a duty to have regard to guidance is the standard formulation throughout education law, balancing a statutory duty to take the guidance into account with the flexibility for those implementing policies to take their individual and local circumstances into account when exercising functions. I know that the noble Lord, Lord Lucas, is concerned about that. The one exception to this in education law relates to the schools admissions code, with which LEAs and school governing bodies must strictly act in accordance. The duty was changed by the Education and Inspections Act 2006. Noble Lords will be interested to learn more detail about that. It enables certain important matters to be given statutory force. For example, governing bodies and local education authorities are prohibited from taking children’s or parents’ behaviour into account when considering whether to offer a school place. There is a detailed set of circumstances. Therefore, Parliament decided that a duty to act in accordance was necessary in order to be specific about admissions policies. The intervention policy of the YPLA—and currently that of the Learning and Skills Council—is not of that order of specificity. It will deal with the processes and triggers for local authorities to use and for governing bodies, clerks and senior managers to understand. As with the Learning and Skills Council, we intend that the YPLA will set out in its guidance a public and transparent policy statement that is kept under review. That guidance will be consulted on before it is published. I return to the question asked by the noble Lord, Lord Elton: what will the Secretary of State do when he is notified of a potential intervention? The Secretary of State would consider the case and direct the YPLA, if necessary, under his powers under Clause 75, but would do that on a case-by-case basis.