Education and Skills Bill

My Lords, I thank the Minister for his characteristically clear and cogent introduction to the Bill’s issues. I listened with great interest to the other two opening speeches and look forward with equal interest to seeing amendments being tabled, which I shall assess dispassionately from the Cross Benches. The good news for the Minister is that I welcome the extension of educational opportunity and aspiration. That is the clear intention of the Bill, for which it must be praised. Its direction of travel is one that we all believe in, as has been said more than once. The more sombre news is that some have said in my hearing that, if the pre-16 system were adequate and performing as it should be, the Bill would not be necessary and that, if it is not adequate and is not performing as it should be—many of us see the difficulties in that regard—the Bill will not solve the problem. However, that analysis is too simplistic; the matter is more complicated than that. I take heart from the Minister’s points about the various developments, not least as regards diplomas, which seek to change pre-16 and post-16 education. However, the critical question is whether the Bill comprises a new start for 16 year-olds or whether its provisions can be built into the existing system. The proposed improvements add to the strength of the Bill and the possibilities that it lays out will be an incentive to improve the existing system. I hope that at later stages I shall be able to return to questions that I cannot deal with now, such as inspection, which has been mentioned, and adult education, where the Bill is too timid. There are great possibilities in that area, which we ought to address—if not in this Bill, on a future occasion. The Bill embodies a new form of encouragement but also a new principle of compulsion in post-16 education. This will be a major issue in our debates. It is not quite as significant as the raising of the school leaving age that was introduced 30-odd years ago, but it none the less constitutes a significant compulsory extension. My mind is open on compulsion, as I accept that some may not respond to encouragement in this area. If a large number do not respond to encouragement and that number grows beyond what can reasonably be predicted, the question arises of what is to be done with and for them. I shall come back to that complex point, on which I have reservations. The Bill takes the right direction but the fundamental question is whether it will work. Is it a practical solution to a specific problem and a clear answer to a clear question? It proposes a single solution for two rather different problems and two rather different questions—that is both a strength and a weakness—which may be overoptimistic. I realise that these days Ministers have to be optimistic—I accept that that is part of the trade—but I do not always share the optimism. I shall return to that in a moment. The two issues, problems or questions that the Bill tries to deal with, are, first, the need to develop further our national skills base, for all the reasons that the Minister properly laid out, and, secondly—this is the emphasis in the Bill’s detail—the need to provide further opportunity for a wide group of young people. The dangers lie in the width of the group of young people. It will include young people who have done well in the pre-16 system and who will enjoy and benefit from the opportunities that will be provided if the Bill goes through. However, as has been said, many have drifted out of education. How in a realistic and practical way does one target those who have joined the ranks of the NEETs—those not in employment, education or training? The proposed legislation is based on the assumption that a solution to the real range of problems encompassed in the second question—the needs of young people—might well be met in a way that simultaneously deals with the issues in the first question, enhancing the national skills base. That may be overoptimistic and may have led to some of the details being generalised rather than being made more particular. In other words, it suggests that there is a demand and that we have a potential source of supply. There will be a series of questions that I hope I can be reassured about during our debates. My first question is whether legislation is the solution to all the problems, especially to the second group, when what is certainly needed is a change of culture—with a small ““c””—in the widest possible sense. We need a change in aspiration—the Government and the other parties have paid due attention to this—among our young people and a change in the culture of the playground, so that particularly boys are not put off further education and further study. These will be the difficult cases. A change of culture is required. Legislation can help that, but it cannot guarantee it. It can, however, hinder it. I will raise that point in a few moments. Parliament and legislation alone will not win the battle. There are other players: the schools and colleges, the employers, the local authorities, the young people in question and their parents. All have a significant part to play if the aspirations of the Bill, which I think we all share, are to be met. I am enthused by the vision, but the range of players leads me to want to examine in greater detail, as I am sure we will in our deliberations on the Bill, how those who have an important part to play can be encouraged and supported. The colleges are primed. They are enthusiastic and ready to go. They properly see opportunity in this. That is marvellous, because they have a role to play that is not sufficiently well developed in our education system. In many cases, the need for the Bill, as I suggested, arises from the failure of the early school system in basic literacy and numeracy. Will the provision include what we might otherwise call remedial education in the basics of literacy and numeracy? If these skills are not there very early in the process, the process will not carry through to successful conclusion. The employers’ record is not always good. The Minister has given us some encouraging statistics, but I have recently seen some others about the building and construction industry, which one would hope might be an important player among the group of employers, that are not encouraging. The number of apprenticeships being created is certainly not near the target for that group. The worries that the industry has, which the CBI has flagged up, include the possibility that there could be unintended consequences—for example, 16 and 17 year-olds, who might have a job at the moment, not being offered jobs for fear of the bureaucracy and regulation that will descend particularly on smaller employers. The consequence of fewer jobs for 16 and 17 year-olds cannot be a good outcome. What help will be given to the local authorities? Again, we have had some outline of this, but how far were they consulted on the onerous and complex responsibilities that will be given to them? What was their response? On policy—this matter will fall under the purview of local authorities—at what point will avoidance become a criminal offence? This is a key question. I read what is in the Bill but when in the process will this occur? Worries have been expressed about the legislation being overenthusiastically interpreted in the years to come. There is a clear risk of that. Is there not a better way? That is the question being asked. I have not ruled out compulsion in the extremes, but one reassurance is the possibility that young people might work off any criminal record. With a future of successful employment in their early 20s, within a period the offence might be annulled from the record. That would make me rather less concerned than I am about the possibility of young people being given criminal records for something that I confess I did when I was 15 to see Australia playing cricket: missing classes and school. I dare say that I did not reach the criminal offence stages, but it is a worrying prospect that that habit could lead to a criminal record, given the impact of that on the rest of the lives of these young people. My other question on this is whether, if this is a criminal offence, DNA samples will be taken from these young people. If so, will those samples be kept on record? That is a serious question. Both these points could be dealt with within current legislation if there were a way of, in due course, working out one’s term and having the record annulled. I look forward to hearing what the Minister has to say on that. Some parents will rise to the opportunity and some are already semi-detached from these young adults, who in some cases will be parents themselves. How is the term ““parent”” defined? If I were in a local authority I would want to ask this question forcefully. Is it the two adults who happen to live in the same house as you? Is the father the individual whose name is now by regulation put on the birth certificate? Who are the parents? This a real question. If one wants the details, one can talk to any head teacher or teacher in a school working in a difficult area. They will tell you in some detail that identifying parents and getting a decent discussion going with them is possibly the most difficult thing that they have to do. However, the Bill has one solution, which is that in the end they might be legally responsible. In summary, I support the direction of travel implied in the Bill but I wish to be reassured on some of the practical questions that I have raised.