10:30 am
John Hayes (Shadow Minister, Innovation, Universities and Skills; South Holland and The Deepings, Conservative)
I talked about a series of bureaucratic elements, but let us deal with the one that you raise, Siôn. Perhaps I can ask my third question on sector skills councils on the back of that, because you make much mention of them in the Bill’s explanatory notes.
The real issue is that by, in your words, having a line of accountability to two Departments, there is an implicit lack of clarity. What if the Departments have different perspectives or take different policy positions? That is immensely confused, is it not? I find it very hard to be tough on the Minister as he is such a charming chap, but Keith Marshall from the Alliance of Sector Skills Councils—the Minister was here and heard his evidence just as clearly as I did—complained that there is not enough detail in the Bill on the role of sector skills councils in statutory terms. There is very little legislative mention of their role. Indeed, Keith Marshall argued that the involvement of LEAs actually weakens the role of sector skills councils—the voice of employers—in the system. It seems to me that, contrary to the Government’s intentions, which I am prepared to accept are noble and virtuous, the Bill will result in confusion, lack of clarity, potentially conflicting reporting lines and a diminished role for sector skills councils.