Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill

We now begin discussions about Ofqual and I have no doubt that sighs of relief are being heaved around the Chamber, not only because it means we are about halfway through Report stage, but also, much more importantly, because of the large number of government amendments which have taken on board certain of the concerns expressed in Committee by a large number of your Lordships. I am afraid that we cannot join in, however, with all the expressions of relief, because we remain concerned about the provisions being made for those on the board of Ofqual. The Government appear to be advocating independence. They have decided that they no longer believe it necessary for the deputy chairman to be appointed by the Secretary of State, or for the Secretary of State to have the power to dismiss him. Instead, they now seem to have decided that Ofqual should retain this power. This is despite what we took to be very clear assurances to the contrary expressed in Committee. The Minister said that people should not be nervous that a board was appointed by the Secretary of State because a board appointed by the Secretary of State was, ""entirely consistent with a reputation for fierce independence".—[Official Report, 15/10/09; col. 377.]" She said that it would be regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments and the appointees would be in no way answerable to the Secretary of State. Perhaps since then she has had a change of heart. We agree that Ofqual needs to be independent. That is the reason for our Amendment 150 which would ensure that a member of the Ofqual board cannot have a financial or occupational interest that would constitute a conflict of interest with Ofqual. Despite what the Minister said a moment ago, we still believe that it would not be helpful to have serving on that board anyone with any sort of conflict of interest with the objectives of that regulator. Surely we should ensure that the board of Ofqual is free of those currently involved, by occupation or financially, in education. We suggest that we should bend over backwards to avoid any suggestion of a conflict of interest in the regulation of standards. Instead, it should be composed of those with the necessary expertise to help form a rigorous and effective regulator. We cannot believe that our amendment would mean that such people were impossible to find. Katherine Tattersall, the chairman of Ofqual, wrote in her letter to Mr Chope and Mrs Humble that, ""as a regulator of qualifications in England, I can assure you that I am quite clear about the importance of maintaining standards over time and across awarding bodies so that learners and the public can have confidence in the integrity of the qualifications system"." The Minister also referred to the importance of confidence in the system when she moved her amendment. In order to achieve this objective, we believe that it is necessary to have a board composed of people who cannot have or be thought to have in any way a vested interest in creating the perception that standards have risen regardless of the facts. We are pleased to note that in Committee we received support for the principle behind this amendment. The noble Lord, Lord Sutherland, said that he fully supported the emphasis behind Amendment 220A—as it then was—but expressed reservations that it might be difficult to apply. The Minister said: ""It is important that members of Ofqual should not be subject to conflicts of interest"," and that, ""it would clearly be inappropriate to appoint to Ofqual anyone with a direct and current connection with an awarding body which Ofqual might regulate".—[Official Report, 15/10/09; col. 378.]" I heard what she said today on this. We acknowledge that there may be some technical difficulties with our amendment. There have also been expressions of concern that it may preclude those with expertise in assessments and academia. That is not the intention. We wish to exclude only those who have a current vested interest. They should have no reputational or other interest in demonstrating that the United Kingdom’s examination system has maintained standards over the years. In the quest for independent regulation, this seems only sensible and necessary. We cannot express much support for the government amendments in this group or for Amendment 154, tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Walmsley. I am interested to hear the Government’s response on Amendment 155. Amendment 164 was tabled by my noble friend Lord Lucas and appears to us to be very sensible. We may have had some disagreements about the role of the Secretary of State with regard to Ofqual, but we are in agreement on this. It is important that government policy and directives that are sent to Ofqual with the purpose of direction should be available and published. This will add to the transparent nature of Ofqual. The body has an important function to fulfil. It must regulate standards but, in consequence, should reassure the public that standards are being upheld and are improving. Any published document of government policy that Ofqual has had to take into account should help to ensure that trust is maintained between the public and the regulator.