Written evidence to be reported to the House
Further Education and Training Bill [Lords]
10:30 am
John Hayes (Shadow Minister (Vocational Education), Education; South Holland and The Deepings, Conservative)
I welcome you to the Chair, Mr. Atkinson. Your perspicacity is matched only by your legendary benevolence, on which we lesser mortals will depend as we consider this important matter.
The Minister has set the scene by describing this as an important Bill. It is certainly an important subject. He referred to the Leitch report, and Opposition Members cannot help but conclude that the Bill would have been more fit for purpose if it had included more of the report. It is curious that the Further Education and Training Bill makes almost no reference to the content of the Leitch report and, indeed, the Government response to it. Having said that, I agree with the Minister that the further education sector is vital—it provides opportunities for people across the country to gain skills, to train and to be educated—and we celebrate the work of further education colleges as, I know, do all Committee members.
The Bill is important in a number of respects, which we shall debate at length. The Opposition want to tease out the unsatisfactory aspects of the Bill and support those that point in the right direction. However, we are disappointed that the Bill does not provide a more fundamental review of the circumstances affecting further education and training, together with a series of recommendations about how they might be improved. The programme provides sufficient time to debate the matters that are before us, and we look forward to doing so in a co-operative but sparky spirit, so that the legislation is scrutinised in an appropriate and thorough way. We support the programme motion.