Clause 23
Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill
1:00 pm

John Hayes (Shadow Minister, Innovation, Universities and Skills; South Holland and The Deepings, Conservative)

Clause 23 allows the Secretary of State to direct the chief executive of Skills Funding to modify:

“the specification of apprenticeship standards for England...providing that the specification...as so modified, meets the requirements of section 25.”

We will be debating that issue in a few moments. It would be useful, for the record, if the Minister could give some indication of the circumstances in which the Secretary of State would give such a direction. We have emphasised in our considerations so far that ministerial involvement in such matters is best when it is minimal, because the apprenticeship frameworks and standards and the responsiveness of apprenticeships will be best defined by teachers, employers and the agencies charged with that mission. In what circumstances and why, when and how might such a direction be given?

Siôn Simon (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills; Birmingham, Erdington, Labour)

The clause does not authorise or enable the Secretary of State to vary any of the conditions. Rather, it enables the Secretary of State to direct the chief executive of Skills Funding to modify the specification of apprenticeship standards for England and to make an order bringing the modified specification into effect, provided that the requirements in clause 25 are met. This clause is important in that it gives us the flexibility to change the specification of apprenticeship standards for England. Without such flexibility, we would be unable to make changes, to respond to employers’ needs, which might change over time, or to adjust the bar in the specification so as to better reflect the rising quality of the programme that we expect to deliver. We intend to consult on the content of any modifications, even though that is not a requirement for a statute.