Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill

I shall also speak to the other amendments standing in my name. I have been delighted, but not surprised at the level of support from all sides of the House for the establishment of an independent qualifications regulator. The Bill provides for Ofqual to be a robust, independent regulator. It will enable Ofqual to ensure that standards of qualifications and assessments are maintained. Like Ofsted, it will report to Parliament, not Ministers. It has a critical role to play in developing and improving the qualifications that are central to the success of education and training in this country. It will improve confidence in those qualifications—because confidence is the currency of qualifications. That will be good, above all, for children and learners. Their achievements will be properly recognised and valued. We shall start by looking at Schedule 9 and Ofqual’s governance. There has understandably been a lot of interest in governance in parliamentary debates. We need to make sure that the process for appointing members of Ofqual reinforces its independence. We have therefore laid two further sets of amendments to put this independence beyond doubt. First, it will now be for Ofqual rather than the Secretary of State to choose the deputy chair from among its members—members of the board. Ofqual will also be able to remove the deputy from office. Secondly, the Secretary of State will now be required to consult the chief regulator before appointing or dismissing a member of Ofqual. This also responds to the points made in Committee about the need for the chief regulator to have a formal role in appointing Ofqual members. There are also provisions allowing for a situation where the chief regulator or the deputy chair is unable to be consulted. Those amendments are rather long and detailed, but we are advised that the safeguards are necessary. There are also some consequential, tidying-up amendments to make Schedule 9 easier to read. Let me move on to Amendment 164, tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Lucas, and to the other amendments. I am committed, and said so in Committee, to publishing any directions made to Ofqual under Clause 128 because we would risk undermining confidence if the Secretary of State were making directions in secret. I do not believe that it is necessary for this provision to be in the Bill, but I give an absolute commitment that this is going to happen. On Amendment 150, tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Verma, and the noble Lord, Lord De Mauley, of course it is important that members of Ofqual should not be subject to a conflict of interest. Noble Lords opposite are rightly concerned about that. It would be counter to the strict requirements of the Treasury, the Cabinet Office and the Commissioner for Public Appointments. In particular, no one with a direct and current connection with an awarding body could ever be appointed to Ofqual. However, almost anyone who has something to contribute to Ofqual, who has an interest in or experience relevant to Ofqual’s work, could be regarded as having some conflict of interest, if we take it to extremes. It was suggested in Committee in the other place that a head teacher, for example, might be so regarded if the performance of their school were measured by the qualifications that Ofqual regulates. I do not agree with that view. We need to have one or two head teachers as members of Ofqual to bring direct and current experience of qualifications delivery. Head teachers, like all of us, need a robust system in which standards are maintained and confidence is high. We do not, however, need too many head teachers in Ofqual. We must make sure that Ofqual has a balanced membership and a range of perspectives. I move on to Amendment 155 and the concerns of the noble Baroness, Lady Walmsley, about the appointment of the chief executive. The Secretary of State’s approval of a chief executive, which is normal for Civil Service posts at this level, must be in line with the Civil Service recruitment code. I hope that that will reassure noble Lords. It would be unusual for a parliamentary committee to report on something as detailed as the appointment of a position in this way, or on the terms and conditions of a particular civil servant, but should it choose to do so, I would expect that the Secretary of State would want to take its views into account. I am not sure that it is necessary to put this in the Bill. On the appointment of the first chief executive, I am happy to repeat the commitment I made in Committee that we will work with interim Ofqual over the appointment of the first—interim—chief executive of Ofqual. Thereafter Ofqual will appoint its own chief executives, so I hope the House will feel that this amendment is not necessary. I hope that I have given the House the comfort that it is looking for, and I beg to move.