Education Bill

My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Storey, made a powerful case on the issue of consistency, and I think that it is the key word in this. We are grappling towards a system that is best going to deliver that consistency. The Minister said that it did not work in the past and that incomplete records were provided by different authorities. My answer to that is that what he is proposing now will make it even more inconsistent and patchy. The draft regulations he has recently sent out show that it will very much be discretionary rather than compulsory for employers as to whether they feed information into the centre. The onus of the wording is that employers ““may”” decide whether they wish to inform the Secretary of State, members of the public ““may”” be able to refer cases to the Secretary of State, and the police and the Independent Safeguarding Authority ““may”” also refer cases to the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State will have a very patchy and inconsistent picture, and I do not know that that helps anybody. What we really want is a resource that future employers can access and in which they will have some faith. I understand the steps the Minister is taking, but we need to revisit the draft regulations. We need to make a much better attempt at trying to find a consistent and useful resource for future employers. I do not think that this is it, but there is room for further dialogue. On that basis, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment 38 withdrawn. Amendments 39 to 41 not moved. Clause 13 : Restrictions on reporting alleged offences by teachers Amendment 42 Clause 13 : Restrictions on reporting alleged offences by teachers Amendment 42 Moved by