Education and Skills Bill

Before my noble friend Lord Lucas speaks, I think that I am catching something from the Minister because I forgot to say something that I should have said. This part of the Bill is designed to ensure that parents are involved in keeping their children in training and education. The orders set out in the Bill are presumably intended to apply to only a minority of parents, but they emphasise the Government’s overall desire to see parents involved with educational provision for their children. That aim, as with so many in this Bill, is one that we share. But would the Minister agree that parental involvement does not start at 16? Concerns have been raised, particularly by the Catholic Education Service, about the role of parents in this Bill. Parents will have been deeply involved in making choices for their children when they were much younger. If the Government put in the Bill the responsibilities of parents, they should be prepared to consider the corresponding rights of parents. For instance, the Catholic Education Service is concerned that parents and carers have a voice in the Bill that respects the choice made by their children at 11 to continue to the end of compulsory schooling, particularly when it is an issue of faith. They are worried that there may be a conflict there. I would welcome the Minister’s thoughts on that.