Clause 16
Education and Skills Bill
4:25 pm
Jim Knight (Minister of State (Schools and Learners), Department for Children, Schools and Families; South Dorset, Labour)
As I have tried to explain, if we were to dilute them as set out in the amendment, we would not be able to have any of the data sharing that is extremely helpful in providing support to young people. The duty is not to enforce; it is to support the young person in fulfilling their duty. There is a power to enforce, but there is not a duty to enforce; it is important that the Committee bear in mind that difference. As we discussed earlier, it is easy for people to forget that there can be no enforcement without that support being put in place and without an attempt to provide appropriate support. If the matter goes to the attendance panel, and it finds that relevant support has not been offered, enforcement cannot take place.
Moving on to the health question which the hon. Member for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton raised several interventions ago, health information can be particularly sensitive and the protection offered by the Data Protection Act in respect of health is particularly important. Under the principles of fairness in that Act, a young person must be informed if personal information relating to them is to be shared. They also have the right to ask to see the information that is held and to ask for it to be corrected if it is inaccurate.
There are circumstances where that can be helpful, most of them relating to teenage pregnancy and to new mothers. For example, I think that we debated on a previous Tuesday—I cannot remember the exact date—the case of teenage mothers and their need for additional support to enable them to participate. Some of that support may be health related, for example, if they are suffering from post-natal depression. The Connexions service may need access to information from health care providers so that it can assess the best way to re-engage a young person in education and training. Young people may have other mental health needs that are being addressed by the health authorities and which it is important that personal advisers know about so that they can tailor advice accordingly.