Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill

My Lords, there are a large number of amendments in this group, and I start by recognising with gratitude—even admiration—that a great deal of work by Ministers and their officials, and, indeed, by noble Lords all around the House has gone into seeking consensus. Yet the sheer number of non-government amendments here suggests that we are still some way short of complete agreement, so I look forward to the Minister’s response to those. I turn first to the amendments tabled by the Government. In this group, we see a number of concessions to the strength of opinion that Ofqual’s fee-capping powers should be constrained. In Committee, we expressed a desire to ensure that the market was not interfered with unduly, while ensuring that fees to exam boards should not be extortionate. Groups such as Edexcel had expressed concern that Ofqual’s power to cap fees might also have the potential artificially to alter the market and, in this way, could restrict the breadth of qualifications offered. Like my noble friend Lady Perry, we on these Benches strongly support diversity and choice. The power to cap fees must not be abused so as to risk smaller and more specialised qualifications being driven out of the market. We recognise that the Bill brings in further safeguards, and so effectively limits further the fee-capping powers which were available to Ofqual under the Education Act 1997. Nevertheless, we welcome the fact that the Government have responded so positively to the issues raised in Committee. The power to cap fees will, assuming the amendment is accepted, be restricted to when it is necessary to ensure value for money. It is to be hoped that this will allow smaller and perhaps less overtly economic qualifications to survive, because the cap will be triggered only when it is necessary to restrict the cost to ensure that fees are not disproportionately high. That seems appropriate. While we accept that it is often better to let the market have control of these situations, there are also occasions when schools and colleges are put in a position where exam fees are too high. In 2004-05, for example, my information—which I think is similar to that of the noble Baroness, Lady Walmsley—is that secondary schools spent £197 million on exam fees compared with £150 million on books for both primary and secondary schools. The Minister might like to consider those rather startling figures. Can she also provide your Lordships with some information about the use of powers to cap fees under the status quo ante? What impact does she feel that the changes and safeguards contained in the Bill will have on the market, and on the expenditure which schools have to make? We also support the need for an independent person to review decisions. The review must certainly be external and impartial if it is to be a transparent process and to have any real teeth. I will be interested to hear whether the Government have given any thought to Amendment 184, tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Walmsley. However, I am afraid I find myself unable to support her Amendment 166, which requires Ofqual to review the market and to impose a cap on fees only if it seems that the market is being distorted. While we see the rationale, we are worried that it could involve a great deal of extra work every time an issue arose where a fee was considered too high. It seems to follow that if Ofqual should be awarded the powers to cap fees, it should also be allowed to exercise its own judgment here. For the times when that breaks down, there is already to be an independent review process. I look forward to the response from the Minister to my noble friend Lord Lucas’s amendments. Regarding Amendment 171, can the Minister give us the Government’s assessment of the cost of doing that? I turn to the amendments tabled by my noble friend Lady Perry. Amendments 181 and 182 refer to the fact that Ofqual must operate "in a timely manner", whether recognising a body or withdrawing recognition. We accept the Government’s response that Ofqual already has an efficiency objective. Nevertheless, the powers to recognise and withdraw recognition are of paramount importance to Ofqual’s remit. The timeliness objective deserves to be underlined. Timeliness with regard to recognising an exam can be critical. It is simply not the same as efficiency—or even, as my noble friend said, as speed—as much as one might like it to be. We want to ensure that standards rise and that the public are reassured on this point. How can Ofqual hope to achieve that if it does not act in a timely manner? Finally, we support and welcome the Government’s intentions in Amendment 185, but we rather hoped that they might have been a little braver. We on these Benches believe firmly in the rigour that examinations should have in ensuring that students enjoy the complete confidence of the receiving educational institution—or, indeed, the employer—after the exam has been taken. The meddling in, and micromanagement of, exams has, as my honourable friend Michael Gove said recently, dumbed the system down. There should be a distinction between what are seen as hard and soft subjects. We should not just measure, as the Government currently do, the GCSE performance of a school by the proportion of pupils who gain five A* to C grades, without taking into account which subjects have been taken. The argument that vocational subjects will be seen as less important is redundant. It is crucial to put an appropriate value on both academic and vocational subjects so that potential higher education institutions and employers can rightly distinguish the level of attainment. I very much look forward to the Minister’s response.