Contributions
941 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDInstitute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (Transfer of Functions etc) Bill [ Lords ] (Second sitting)Clause 9 is about improving the reporting and transparency of Skills England. It shows this Government’s willingness to listen and work constructively with Members here and in the…13 Mar 2025HANSARDInstitute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (Transfer of Functions etc) Bill [ Lords ] (Second sitting)I will speak to amendments 8 and 9. Clause 10 makes provision for the Secretary of State to address any consequential effects that the Bill may have on other legislation. The…13 Mar 2025HANSARDInstitute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (Transfer of Functions etc) Bill [ Lords ] (Second sitting)I thank the hon. Member for his intervention. Skills England is in communication with the Migration Advisory Committee and others as well. It has a broad remit as well as having a…13 Mar 2025HANSARDInstitute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (Transfer of Functions etc) Bill [ Lords ] (First sitting)I will begin again, Sir Christopher. I rise to speak to clauses 1 to 3. Clause 1 introduces schedule 1, which transfers statutory functions from the Institute for Apprenticeships…13 Mar 2025HANSARDInstitute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (Transfer of Functions etc) Bill [ Lords ] (First sitting)Hon. Members have given me much to think about and feed back. I remind Opposition Members that one in eight young people are not in education, employment or training, a third of…13 Mar 2025HANSARDInstitute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (Transfer of Functions etc) Bill [ Lords ] (First sitting)It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Christopher. I welcome the opportunity to further discuss and scrutinise the Bill following Second Reading, and I thank the…13 Mar 2025HANSARDInstitute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (Transfer of Functions etc) Bill [ Lords ] (First sitting)It sounds as though that college is doing excellent work. The Bill is part of the process of delivering Skills England. It is our intention, following the Bill’s Royal Assent, to…13 Mar 2025HANSARDInstitute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (Transfer of Functions etc) Bill [ Lords ] (First sitting)What I am saying is that we have already introduced flexibility and we will continue to work with employers to understand where future flexibility will be most helpful. That will…13 Mar 2025HANSARDInstitute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (Transfer of Functions etc) Bill [ Lords ] (First sitting)No, I think I have said enough on that point.13 Mar 2025HANSARDInstitute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (Transfer of Functions etc) Bill [ Lords ] (First sitting)We are not centralising regulation of technical qualifications akin to IfATE. Skills England will operate independently of the Department for Education and will continue to work…13 Mar 2025HANSARDInstitute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (Transfer of Functions etc) Bill [ Lords ] (First sitting)We have been listening to businesses and employers, and they are absolutely telling us that they want greater flexibility in our apprenticeship systems and in how employers can…13 Mar 2025HANSARDInstitute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (Transfer of Functions etc) Bill [ Lords ] (First sitting)I will get back to the hon. Gentleman. I will make sure there is a written response.13 Mar 2025HANSARDInstitute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (Transfer of Functions etc) Bill [ Lords ] (Second sitting)Through this Bill, we are making a small number of targeted improvements that enable flexibility and support employers to engage in the design of standards in an appropriate way,…13 Mar 2025HANSARDInstitute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (Transfer of Functions etc) Bill [ Lords ] (Second sitting)As I progress, I am sure the right hon. Gentleman will understand more about why we have chosen this direction of travel. My understanding is that this is a response to an…13 Mar 2025HANSARDInstitute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (Transfer of Functions etc) Bill [ Lords ] (Second sitting)Indeed. I will endeavour to explain why a statement now is not the most appropriate thing. It is likely to be appropriate for the Secretary of State to use the power to prepare a…13 Mar 2025HANSARDInstitute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (Transfer of Functions etc) Bill [ Lords ] (Second sitting)One reason why we have this Bill is because we recognise that the skillset is changing very quickly, and we in England need to keep up with that. Therefore, we must ensure that…13 Mar 2025HANSARDInstitute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (Transfer of Functions etc) Bill [ Lords ] (Second sitting)If the shadow Minister will bear with me, I will present an example scenario, from which I hope he will recognise that there could be delays in some niche situations. Scenarios in…13 Mar 2025HANSARDInstitute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (Transfer of Functions etc) Bill [ Lords ] (Second sitting)It might be helpful for the hon. Member to know that where an occupation is regulated, the requirements for assessing competence are tightly defined and cannot be deviated from.…13 Mar 2025HANSARDInstitute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (Transfer of Functions etc) Bill [ Lords ] (Second sitting)The default position will be for a group of persons, and that will always be the default position of the Secretary of State. The reason for that would be to make factual…13 Mar 2025HANSARDInstitute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (Transfer of Functions etc) Bill [ Lords ] (Second sitting)Clause 6 amends the requirement to review technical education qualifications, standards and apprenticeship assessment plans at regular and published intervals by removing the…13 Mar 2025