Education and Skills Bill

The new clause proposed by my noble friend Lord Lucas is an attempt to make it easier for employers to fulfil their obligations by making available a certificate showing that a young person has made appropriate arrangements. I agree that as much as possible should be done to ease the duty on employers. I should like to speak to my Amendment No. 114 in this group, which limits the steps that an employer is expected to take to fulfil its obligations so that it does not have to ask the young person’s college of further education for details of the individual’s course. It has been made very clear by parties whom we have consulted, including the Institute of Directors, 70 per cent of whose members are small and medium-sized enterprises, and others, that one of the biggest day-to-day problems facing business is the ever-increasing flow of red tape and bureaucracy. We want to keep the burdens imposed on employers to an absolute minimum; otherwise, we run the risk of seeing the young people whom we are trying to help in this Bill excluded from the workforce because the bureaucracy involved is too daunting and time-consuming. I seek the Minister’s assurances on that point. Amendment No. 112 is a probing amendment. The intention behind it is to ensure that training is rigorous and of a high quality; in other words, that it is sufficient for purpose and not merely relevant for the needs of the learner who requires new skills. I have chosen the word ““sufficient”” because I am talking about the level of learning that is to be achieved; otherwise, we will just be wasting everyone’s time. The amendment would ensure such an outcome, as I am sure the Minister will agree.