Education and Skills Bill

As so often, I find myself holding a sensible middle ground between two extreme positions—in this case, positions that have been taken up by the two parties opposite. I have the noble Baroness, Lady Garden, saying that there should be no duties on employers, and the noble Baroness, Lady Verma, saying that there should be enhanced duties on employers, who should now have to check the precise number of hours. It is reasonable that there is a duty to check that the young person is engaged, or has made arrangements to be engaged, in education or training. As I said earlier, the very fact that that requirement is in place—it is a perfectly plausible proposition—will be a significant incentive for young people, because they will know that employers are expected to check that they have made arrangements to engage in education or training. However, we do not want to specify the nature of those checks in excessive detail. In very many cases, it is quite likely that the letters that are produced by the learning providers will specify the number of hours. We are talking about the statutory minimum requirements on employers, and a requirement that they should make a check, which will be a significant incentive for the young person, is a reasonable step in the circumstances. There is a balance of duties on employers, on young people, and, as we discussed earlier, on local authorities, but we do not want to go down the Conservative road of over-regulating employers by requiring them to have to check the precise number of hours in all cases.