My Lords, it is not my intention to delay the House, given the length of the previous debate on procedure, but I want to make three points. First, in the debate in this House on the Skills and Post-16 Education Bill we have had some exemplary
and extremely profound contributions from Members. I want to appeal to the Minister, who is new to her post, to take back to her ministerial team and the Cabinet, as this Bill moves to the House of Commons, the genuine feelings of this House and—as has just been displayed in terms of the procedure issues—to think, reflect and not necessarily to move at the speed to which the Government are currently committed on certain aspects of government policy in relation to defunding qualifications.
I know from previous experience in my dealings with the Minister that she does listen and does care. I say to the officials who do not often get addressed in this House, or for that matter in the other House, that getting something done well is better than getting it done quickly—particularly when those who have put through legislation are rarely around to see the consequences of their own mistakes. Sometimes it would be good if those officials working on Bill committees were able—I have put this forward on many occasions in the past, so this is not a knock at them—to take forward the legislation on which they have worked. It would be an exemplar way of using their talent and ensuring that other people simply did not pick up the pieces of something that has been done before.
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Secondly, announcements were made this weekend by the Chancellor of the Exchequer—or rather, they were briefed to the media—about funding. It would be helpful if the Minister could tell us anything about the supposed additional—and I do mean additional—funding in terms not just of T-levels but of the skills agenda as a whole. How much of this is money that has not already been earmarked for this area in previous Budgets and announcements? It would be really helpful to know that, so that we could have some transparency. The BBC in particular seems now to take such briefings lock, stock and barrel—it was not just on this issue but in respect of a number of press releases, announcements and briefings over the weekend—and I say this as a supporter of the BBC. It may be that the reductions in funding for news and current affairs, and for the research that needs to be done, have affected it, but it does not help in terms of transparency or knowing what is going on in what is effectively a Budget but which as an Autumn Statement allows the Government simply to wipe out any previous protocols regarding budgetary matters.
I cannot put my third point to the Minister too strongly. The letter that she kindly circulated referred to the defunding of students on particular courses arising from the procedures of implementation of T-levels—which I still support, as I do the thrust of this Bill. The letter states that students who are most likely to be taking qualifications that will not be funded in the future will have the most to gain from these changes, because they are currently more likely to be taking qualifications that do not deliver the skills that employers need. Now in some cases that might well be true, but many of us have simply wasted our breath if it has not been understood by Ministers and officials that many BTEC national diplomas, upgraded
recently, are just what employers need for the future. T-levels must stand on their own quality and their relevance in the sectors of the economy to which they will be applied, and so must BTEC national diplomas, but a little time to carry through these changes would not come amiss.
I hope not only that the amendment moved from my own Front Bench by my noble friend Lord Watson will be accepted in the other House but that there will be some reflection on the excellent debate on the evening of 12 October, which had two elements: the first was excellent propositions and the second was a case study in how not to do politics that schools, colleges and universities might use in the future. Those who were in favour of moderate changes to the propositions managed to filibuster the amendment moved by the noble Lord, Lord Willetts, to the point where it was not carried. Sometimes we get the politics wrong and the speeches and the intentions right.