Clause 6
Education and Skills Bill
9:30 am
Jim Knight (Minister of State (Schools and Learners), Department for Children, Schools and Families; South Dorset, Labour)
Being taken on at a market stall can be highly appropriate and engaging for young people and can be of significant value. They will acquire skills in their work, such as numeracy skills. The sort of individual that the hon. Lady describes may have been disengaged and may not have the level 1, level 2 or level 3 qualifications that reflect the numeracy skills that they acquire through working as a trader. It would seem highly appropriate that alongside all the fun of getting up early in the morning, setting up their stall and selling their wares in an engaging way, those people also find time to ensure that the skills that they have acquired, such as numeracy skills, have accreditation. That way, if they tire of getting up so early in the morning and assembling their stall, even though they might be acquiring huge wealth in the process, and they want to move on to something else, they will have something that is portable to future employers.
Given the reasoning that I have set out, I hope that hon. Members will not press their amendments.