Contributions
1,077 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDSkills and Post-16 Education Bill [ Lords ] (Third sitting)That was a very disappointing contribution. To describe the Labour party’s view—that apprenticeships are the gold standard—as that we think apprenticeships are worthless, is…02 Dec 2021HANSARDSkills and Post-16 Education Bill [ Lords ] (Fourth sitting)I am glad that my hon. Friend made that incredibly important point. She is right that BTECs, and the further education sector in general, have a far higher proportion of black and…02 Dec 2021HANSARDSkills and Post-16 Education Bill [ Lords ] (Fourth sitting)Lord Baker made his support for this approach known. I think he was absent from the vote, but he very much supported the move towards protecting this. In fact, he described the…02 Dec 2021HANSARDSkills and Post-16 Education Bill [ Lords ] (Fourth sitting)My hon. Friend was talking a minute ago about different qualifications and cases where a BTEC is the only show in town. The hon. Member for Great Grimsby was saying that we should…02 Dec 2021HANSARDSkills and Post-16 Education Bill [ Lords ] (Fourth sitting)We all encourage them, absolutely. I am interested in what the Minister says. I had the impression that a GCSE in maths and English was being used as an entry-level requirement,…02 Dec 2021HANSARDSkills and Post-16 Education Bill [ Lords ] (Fourth sitting)Could the Minister clarify a little more the kinds of information that he anticipates will be relevant under this clause?02 Dec 2021HANSARDSkills and Post-16 Education Bill [ Lords ] (Fourth sitting)As I understand it, from what the Secretary of State has said, going forward there will not be the need to have a maths or English GCSE before a student does a T-level. In the…02 Dec 2021HANSARDSkills and Post-16 Education Bill [ Lords ] (Fourth sitting)I heard what the Minister said. This was a probing amendment to try to understand a little more about how Ofqual’s role would operate in the future. However, having heard what the…02 Dec 2021HANSARDSkills and Post-16 Education Bill [ Lords ] (Fourth sitting)Will the Minister give way?02 Dec 2021HANSARDSkills and Post-16 Education Bill [ Lords ] (Fourth sitting)There are always concerns when it comes to this Government and information sharing. There have been many examples in which there has been real concern about the approach that the…02 Dec 2021HANSARDSkills and Post-16 Education Bill [ Lords ] (Fourth sitting)They certainly are. Question put and agreed to. Clause 1 2 accordingly ordered to stand part of the Bill. Clause 13 Renumbering of provisions relating to technical education…02 Dec 2021HANSARDSkills and Post-16 Education Bill [ Lords ] (Fourth sitting)That was an interesting contribution from the Minister. On the first aspect of amendment 48, which calls for the Secretary of State to publish criteria to define what is meant by…02 Dec 2021HANSARDSkills and Post-16 Education Bill [ Lords ] (Fourth sitting)The Minister says that there is no conflict of interest. People in the sector believe that there is. Clearly it is a matter of opinion, but the perception of a conflict of…02 Dec 2021HANSARDSkills and Post-16 Education Bill [ Lords ] (Third sitting)I beg to move amendment 43, in clause 2, page 3, line 27, leave out “as the Secretary of State considers appropriate” and insert— “, including— (a) the requirement for the local…02 Dec 2021HANSARDSkills and Post-16 Education Bill [ Lords ] (Fourth sitting)It certainly is.02 Dec 2021HANSARDSkills and Post-16 Education Bill [ Lords ] (Fourth sitting)This is a really important moment in the passage of this Bill, because Government amendments 18 and 19 seek to remove two of the most important amendments that were secured in the…02 Dec 2021HANSARDSkills and Post-16 Education Bill [ Lords ] (Third sitting)Precisely—I could not have put it better myself. In fact, I do not think that I was putting it better myself. If a chamber of commerce has, for example, a tree surgeon as its…02 Dec 2021HANSARDSkills and Post-16 Education Bill [ Lords ] (Second sitting)Will the Minister also clarify this? Is it possible that an area could be in two different local skills improvement plans? For example, Chesterfield was originally part of both…30 Nov 2021HANSARDSkills and Post-16 Education Bill [ Lords ] (Second sitting)That is a really important point. In some cases, chambers of commerce and branches of the Federation of Small Businesses have constructive relationships; in other areas the…30 Nov 2021HANSARDSkills and Post-16 Education Bill [ Lords ] (Second sitting)Those are all important questions. My hon. Friend is absolutely right. There are significant warnings to employer representative bodies in the Bill about failing to satisfy the…30 Nov 2021