Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill

The hon. Gentleman is quite right. It flies in the face of what the Bill is trying to achieve within schools. The hon. Member for Daventry made a fine point about complexity—an issue that my Committee looked into in our inquiry, ““Re-skilling for recovery: After Leitch, implementing skills and training policies””. In fact, Madam Deputy Speaker—[Interruption.] I am sorry, I mean Mr. Deputy Speaker. That was a very neat change. We had Swedish models earlier and we now seem to have female-male Deputy Speakers. When we examined the whole training scenario, we looked at all the organisations currently involved in training schemes—for 14-year-olds right through to adult training. We asked the Department to provide an organogram with everything on it. The Department said, ““No, we can't; we don't have one.”” So we asked the National Audit Office and it produced four incredibly complex diagrams for us. In fact, witnesses to our Committee talked about the whole system as"““a pig's ear or a dog's breakfast””,""““a very complex duplicating mess””," ““almost incomprehensible”” and so forth. The landscape of this Bill, however, creates yet more complication and yet more structures. The one structure that the Bill does not set up is that for individual skills accounts, which I thought were a brilliant way of involving adults in training—putting resources into individuals to support them. The previous incarnation of individual learning accounts were unsuccessful for a number of reasons, but the principle was right. The principle to invest in individuals must also be right. Chris Humphries, the new UK commissioner for employment and skills, told our Committee that something like 67 organisations with skills in their remit wrote to say that it was essential that the commission work with them—and he had not heard of any of them. Chris Humphries is, of course, a real star in this area, having worked so hard to promote the skills agenda. He told us:"““Even many of my commissioners have been meeting with ministers, saying, 'you have just made far more complex a system that you have asked the Commission to try and simplify, and that is going to pose real challenges'””." He went on to say:"““I do not think there is an employer in the land who understands””" the current system, so how on earth are they going to understand a new system with even more complication? I hope that, as the Bill progresses, we will see a real attempt to make it more light touch and also ensure that we have a more simplified organisational structure. I raised an issue when the children's trusts boards were under discussion and I want to return to it. There is a danger of casualties resulting from the new legislation—in particular the 16 to 19s and the 19 to 24-year-olds who have deep and complex special needs. They have always suffered among post-16-year-olds; it has always been difficult to meet their needs. My greatest anxiety—I hope that members of the Public Bill Committee will address it—is how we protect their interests now and hopefully enhance them in the future. I make no apology for drawing the House's attention to an organisation in my constituency, Henshaws, a society for blind people. I want to put on record my appreciation for what the Government and, more particularly, the right hon. Member for Sheffield, Brightside, have done. The right hon. Gentleman has spent a great deal of time supporting the organisation, which works with people from age 16 onwards—mainly with 18 to 24-year-olds—who are not only blind or partially sighted, but have other complex needs. Many of them are also deaf, for example, and some have physical impairments or other special learning difficulties. They are a really complex group of young people and the Government quite rightly recognised that this organisation, as a charity, needed funding for its residential support. The Government contributed and private donations raised millions in addition to provide for what has become one of the best-performing colleges anywhere in the country. That is quite unique. The new arrangements are coming into force in 2010 and funding will change from the Learning and Skills Council to the new Young People's Learning Agency. Sadly, Henshaws will be a casualty. In the interim period, the local education authority takes on responsibility, but it is responsible for fulfilling its own provision first. What we really must not do in the changeover is look for what amounts to the cheapest or most convenient provision. Rather, we need to focus on the highest quality that can be offered. Those young people who have intense needs really require our support. They should receive the support of the House and the Government. My plea to the Minister—