My Lords it is a pleasure to follow my noble friend Lord Baker of Dorking, who has done so much to keep the candle burning for technical and vocational education through many difficult times. This group on the role of the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education is one of the most important and it has widened out in discussion.
In considering these amendments, I would like to understand more about the leadership of the institute and its level of independence from the department. I would like to know the extent of business representation, which has barely had a mention in that context, and understand any plans to change its governance or composition as the Government’s very welcome new emphasis on skills and post-16 education takes shape. How does it compare to the set-up in Germany, Switzerland or Austria? My concern is that it is much less employer-based and flexible than the arrangements that I have encountered there, but I would of course be happy to be proved wrong.
Is small business, the backbone of British innovation, properly involved? I agree with the comments of the noble Lord, Lord Watson, on the importance of encouraging small business apprenticeships. Will there be a culture of simplicity and speed, or is this a very bureaucratic organisation, as, I am afraid, the impact assessment suggests? It would be helpful to have an answer on some or all of these points today or, if it is easier, in writing.
With his Amendment 55, the noble Lord, Lord Watson, is I believe right to explore the issue of charging for approval of qualifications, pointing out that the deterrent effect on providers might be a problem. That might lose us useful innovation and competition in the provision of qualifications. Should this not in fact be a public service, rather than a charged-for service, as I suspect it is in universities?
I also support the simple Amendments 51 and 53 of the noble Lord, Lord Blunkett, which probe plans to cancel some qualifications to avoid duplication. It is always a great pleasure to hear from him and to be reminded that he is a brilliant product of vocational education. Against a background of declining achievements in technical education, is the proposed moratorium wise? Could we hear which employers are likely to be affected? We have heard quite a bit about individual qualifications, but what kind of employers are likely to be affected? For example, I recall that at Tesco we were able to frame qualifications in a way that suited our work patterns and needs, and we helped many thousands of apprentices to get on and indeed rise up within the retail sector. Is that kind of arrangement now at risk? One of the reasons why I loved working there with my public sector background was that it was a great provider of opportunity for some of the most disadvantaged in the land.
6.15 pm
Since the institute can make or break training provision in a sector, can the Minister provide, before Report, an idea of its sectoral priorities and a full list of planned qualifications? I would also be interested in how the hotchpotch of regulatory bodies fits in, as requested by my noble friend Lord Flight. The new Skills and Productivity Board, chaired by the CEO of Sky UK and Europe, might be another body to add to the list. The main point is that we need to understand how these will fit together.
As the chair of the Built Environment Committee, I have a particular interest in construction, engineering, robotics and the green skills increasingly needed in that sector because of climate change. However, we also need more emphasis on digital, the creative sector and health and social care. We must keep more traditional sectors supported, such as farming, hospitality and cooking—chefs are known to be in short supply—retail, car manufacture and so on.
I believe that new technical qualifications can help the services sector, which is now such a huge proportion of GDP. I remember working on local schemes with PwC and local government, and the brilliant apprentice that I had in my private office at BEIS. I agree with my noble friend Lord Flight that this is the opportunity to shift the dial on advancement in education and skills outside our universities and to move forward on parity of esteem. Is the machinery of government, particularly the Institute for Apprenticeships, fit for that purpose? We need to find an answer to that and to make amendments to the Bill if we are not happy with where we end up.