My Lords, I am moving this amendment in the name of my noble friend Lord Watson and, with the scratchers from this group, it looks as if it is just Front-Bench contributions.
If it is worth saying something twice, that is what I am going to do. The Bill currently gives the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education, a non-departmental public body directly accountable to Ministers, the ultimate sign-off power for the approval and regulation of technical qualifications in future. So, despite the Minister’s extremely detailed and comprehensive reply to the previous group of amendments, I am going to press her further, because this amendment would ensure that, within six months of the passing of the Act, the Secretary of State must, by regulation, make provision for Ofqual to provide external quality assurance of all apprenticeship end-point assessments. Regulations under this section must prohibit the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education from providing such external quality assurances. Regulations under this section may not be made unless a draft of the instrument containing them has been laid before, and approved by resolution of, each House of Parliament. This amendment places on a statutory footing the external quality assurance role that Ofqual exercises.
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As I said, despite some of the assurances and detailed explanations given by the Minister in her responses on the previous group of amendments, we continue to be concerned that handing back day-to-day political control of technical qualification regulation directly to Ministers, via the institute, would undermine the independent status of Ofqual and risk creating a cumbersome new dual regulatory system.
So we seek to amend the Bill to ensure that Ofqual remains the sole body with sign-off powers, via the single statutory approvals gateway, regulating and accrediting all technical qualifications in future. This will maintain a clear line of responsibility and accountability to Parliament for all qualifications intended for public regulation, outside universities, in England. This amendment places the external quality assurance role that Ofqual currently exercises on to a statutory footing. I beg to move.