Education and Skills Bill

I wish to put two further questions to the Minister. I regret that we on these Benches have not had the benefit of seeing the letter to Mr David Laws. Clearly, communication between one end of Parliament and the other is not what it should be. The question of what constitutes a reasonable excuse is very important. First, will the Government issue guidance to local authorities, which will not have had the benefit of seeing Jim Knight’s letter to Mr Laws? Given the discretion that will be put into the hands of officials, it would be helpful if guidance were issued. Secondly, on a number of occasions, the noble Lord has been asked whether such activities as volunteering or parenting courses would fulfil the requirement. He has said that those activities could be counted as part of the education element of the requirement as long as the young people involved participated in some form of education within them, but that the courses would need to be accredited. In the case of these somewhat out-of-the-ordinary courses which are not part of the accredited education system—for example, parenting classes—who will carry out the accreditation?