Clause 32
Further Education and Training Bill [Lords]
3:30 pm
Sarah Teather (Shadow Secretary of State for Education and Skills, Education & Skills; Brent East, Liberal Democrat)
May I add my thanks, Mr. Atkinson, to you for chairing this Committee so well and for getting us to the point of finishing before 4 pm? I hasten to add that I do not have a social appointment; I am meeting representatives of Barnardo’s, who will be waiting for me in Portcullis House.
May I thank the Minister for being constructive and willing to amend the Bill as we have gone through it? It is good to have a Bill that is in a much better form now than it was when it first came before our colleagues in the other place.
I suggested to the Under-Secretary of State for Education and Skills, the hon. Member for Corby that he was obviously feeling better, because the hon. Member for South Holland and The Deepings was clearly irritating him again, and he was willing to fight with him. I thank the hon. Member for South Holland and The Deepings for a constructive contribution and for often providing opportunities for joint working which were helpful. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Leeds, North-West, who has had to leave just now, but who has been helpful during the debates that we have had on the Bill.
Finally, I would like to add my thanks to the Clerk, who is always extremely helpful on the detail of amendments, and to the civil servants. I was able to pass on to them the detail of what we wanted to do prior to the sittings of the Committee, which was helpful.