Education and Skills Bill

My Amendment No. 232 is linked to the government amendments in this group. First, I draw to the House’s attention my interests as president of the National Training Federation for Wales and as an adviser to a Merthyr charity, Tydfil Training. Born as I was in 1940, I belong to the first generation of young working class children who were the beneficiaries of compulsory education under the great Education Act 1944. My mother, who was the brightest of us all, had been forced to leave school at the age of 14, as had almost all her generation. Through the Act, we were instilled with the value of and a passion for education, a means by which we could climb out of the pile and avoid going down the pits. It provided opportunities well beyond the expectations of the generation that preceded me. I reread some of the debates in both Houses on the 1944 Bill. I was pleasantly surprised—although the amount of time it has now taken has shaken me—that Rab Butler and the architects of that Act had aspirations for compulsory education beyond the age of 16 even then. In the debate about continuing education, even as far back as 1944, full-time compulsory education beyond the age of 16 was aspired to. It has taken us more than a generation to reach this stage, and I support the principles of a Bill that is a worthy successor to the Education Act 1944. I was frankly disappointed that the Welsh Assembly Government have decided not to share the enthusiasm held by many of us from that generation for the principles of this Bill. They make a sincere and powerful case: they believe that they will be able to create in Wales, through an innovative 14-to-19 agenda, an education system that is so attractive that everybody will want to take full advantage of it. I have to suppress my doubting Thomas instincts but I understand the aspirations behind it. To buttress that attractive menu of options, the Welsh Assembly Government are promoting a draft measure to increase learning entitlement for young people aged 16 to 18. They have taken the rather unusual step of publishing the draft measure before bringing forward a legislative competence order so that we can see the thinking behind it as a kind of alternative to accepting the measures in this Bill. The Welsh Assembly Government have drafted this entitlement measure and put it out for consultation. Unfortunately, some of us have found considerable deficiencies in it. Most are matters which should be debated internally, as they belong to the Welsh debate, but a fundamental one does not: the proposed legislation for a learning entitlement does not cover people aged 16 to 19 who are in employment and not receiving any learning or training. We need to reach out to this group who leave school at 16 and enter employment but have no entitlement to further educational training, and this Bill will reach out to them eventually through its obligation. My Amendment No. 232 seeks to bring one aspect of the Welsh scene within the Bill: people aged 16 to 18 should have an obligation and a right to a form of learning or training in and around the place of work. This is where the growth will and should occur. Where people are already employed is where one hopes to see the greatest opportunities, not only for young people but, I hope, for adults as well. My amendment seeks to cover 16 to 18 year-olds in employment but not in any education or training in Wales, because the proposed draft measures in Wales do not offer a similar entitlement. Since I tabled my amendment, the Government have come forward with their own. I welcome particularly the linking of the employment measure with the draft measure that might be promoted at some future date by a Welsh Assembly Government. It is important that there is provision in this Bill, as now proposed in my noble friend’s amendment, to allow young people in employment and employers to be covered. Employment law is not devolved, so it could not be promoted as a learning measure in Wales. It must be promoted here. My noble friend’s amendments are very important, as they will entitle and eventually oblige young people from 16 to 18 who are in work to undertake some form of learning in work. I hope that the Welsh Assembly Government will seize the opportunity provided by my noble friend in the Bill and pursue these principles and policies. In the mean time, what should happen? What should we do to assist and promote learning entitlement for young people who are, or will be, in employment but who do not necessarily receive any training? My noble friend kindly responded to my representations to him and others by sending me an English consultation document on the right to request training. I read it with considerable interest. I understand that it applies to adults and is supposed to complement the provisions in the Bill, but the principles and the model that my noble friend is promoting—the equivalent of the right to educational training and to flexible hours—are very good, and I hope and pray that he will help me to promote that concept to the Welsh Assembly and Welsh Assembly Government so that it can become an extension of learning entitlement for young people who are in work. Having said that, I sound a cautionary note. There is already provision in law entitling young people in work to educational training. As I understand it, Section 63A of the Employment Rights Act 1996 and a 2001 directive on time off for training are in place. The trouble is—this is anecdotally true of Wales; I do not know whether my noble friend has any figures for England—that this opportunity, this right, has scarcely been exercised. That is why this combination of right and obligation is important. We have bestowed rights on young people in work, but they have not been able to exercise them or they have not done so. Therefore, there is a requirement to combine this obligation and right in the Bill. I welcome and support my noble friend’s amendments. I hope that the Welsh Assembly Government will pursue the opportunities created by them. Eventually, I believe, another generation will understand the value of and have the passion for education that I have as a beneficiary of the last great piece of legislation, the Education Act 1944.