Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill

I will respond to the noble Earl, Lord Listowel, first of all. I agree that it would be wonderful to have primary or secondary head teachers in our House. I am sure we would make them very welcome and value their contributions. We have a wonderfully diverse House, and anything that adds to that diversity has to be a good thing. In response to the noble Lord, Lord Lucas, I can say that if I have not been able to satisfy his concerns, then I will see what I can do further. I am not sure what I can do but, in the light of today’s debate, I can see that there is a consensus around putting something in the Bill on the need to publish in the way he suggests. I will try again, as I do on many fronts. I turn to the remarks of the noble Baroness, Lady Walmsley, particularly in regard to her concerns about Amendments 148 and 153 and the question about consultation following extremely unlikely events. I understand her concerns, but the Secretary of State cannot consult if it is necessary to act before it is practicable to consult. This is a legal duty set out in proposed new sub-paragraph (5B)(b) in Amendment 153. We will have to discuss this further, because we do not want to get into a situation where there needs to be an appointment, but because of an extremely unlikely set of events it cannot be made. However, the noble Baroness has very generously agreed to move forward and deal with this in a very practical way. Moving on to Amendment 150, I appreciate the concerns around conflict of interest; of course it is right to ensure that Ofqual has a board that is independent of any undue influence. That is why we have a really strong public appointments process: it is there to make sure that the board has the right skills, and that the people appointed have the right qualities and are free from undue influence. Amendment 150 would simply go too far. We have listened very carefully to what noble Lords said in Committee. For example, we have ensured that Ofqual will choose its deputy; we are now delivering on that. We said we would do that in Committee, and that is what we are doing now. We also wanted to make sure that the chief regulator was consulted, and that is what we are delivering on now. Noble Lords can be reassured that we are setting in place the necessary safeguards to ensure that Ofqual is truly independent. Finally, as regards the interim appointments becoming permanent, Ofqual will set procedures running for the permanent appointments on the day it comes into existence. All being well, that will be 1 April. Bill permitting, the interim appointment will end when the permanent appointment is made. We expect that process to begin on the day Ofqual comes into existence. I hope that I have answered the questions and that noble Lords opposite will not move their amendment and will support the Government’s amendment. Amendment 145 agreed. Amendments 146 to 149 Moved by