Education and Skills Bill

I will not take any more interventions because I need to leave time for others to take part in this short Third Reading debate. We are supporting our aims with broader reforms that will open up new learning pathways, improve access to existing ones, and give young people a firm grounding in the basics and the specialist training that they need to succeed. We are providing a sharp focus on functional skills—English, maths and information, communications and technology—in every qualification at every level. The new 14-to-19 diplomas, the first of which starts this September, will combine traditional and applied learning across a broad range of subjects. There will be more opportunities for adults to continue in learning and to gain the basic skills to help them to progress. We are seeing more engagement from employers, who are offering an additional 90,000 apprenticeships by 2013. With a broader choice of options, young people will be able to select a career path that plays to their strengths, makes the most of their talents and gives them the skills that employers want and young people need to succeed. Those currently in year 6 will be the first to feel the benefits of this legislation—from year 6 to their 60s, when they retire after a long and satisfying career. I want to set the stage for this country to become a world leader in skills for the next 60 years and beyond. No one will be left out and no one will be left behind. To those who suggest an entitlement rather than compulsion, I say that 16 and 17-year-olds already have an entitlement to learning through the duty on the Learning and Skills Council to secure appropriate provision for them. We need to go further and we must go further. To those who suggest that some young people or groups of young people should be exempt from the duty, I say that that would mean that we would be failing those young people. That is not acceptable. The case is very clear. This Third Reading is the chance for Opposition Members to come off the fence on the principle of the Bill, rather than sit on the Benches without stating an opinion. Opposition Members either support ambition, aspiration and achievement or they do not. They either support fair access to education for all or they do not. They either want to secure a strong and prosperous future for our young people and our economy, or they do not. This Bill will ensure that young people have opportunities, take them and are in a better position to create their own so that their education is not time lost but the chance to build a brighter future. The Government are making the difficult decisions to raise ambition and aspiration for all. Now is the time for the Conservatives to show their mettle and support us—to move from excellence for some to our agenda of excellence for all. I am pleased to commend this Bill to the House.