Clause 22
Further Education and Training Bill [Lords]
1:15 pm
John Hayes (Shadow Minister (Vocational Education), Education; South Holland and The Deepings, Conservative)
I said at the outset of this Committee that your generosity and benevolence are legendary, Mr. Atkinson. The Minister has sought to prove me right by managing at the very end of his sensible comments on levies to launch into a series of remarks about apprenticeships, but I shall not follow him, because that would be wrong. I do not want to be seduced down an inappropriate path by the Minister. He has spoken sensibly about levies, on which we have similar views. This is not the time to explore the issue, but there might be capacity, as the film industry shows, for further voluntary levy systems, if an industry thinks that that is the right way to focus attention on the need for training and development. Both Opposition and Government would celebrate such a voluntary, industry-led approach to increasing commitment to training.