Clause 30
Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill
1:15 pm
John Hayes (Shadow Minister, Innovation, Universities and Skills; South Holland and The Deepings, Conservative)
We have raced through the last few clauses, but it seems unreasonable to deny the Minister the opportunity to contribute further to our deliberations, given his outstanding performance when he agreed with me previously and again today. I shall not offer any plaudits—he said earlier that he was seeking plaudits—unless they are fully deserved.
The clause applies to both England and Wales. The apprenticeship agreement will be a contract entered into between the employer and the apprentice. The Government expect it to set out both the on-the-job training and the learning away from the work stations that will be delivered. My first question is a reprise of a question that came up in an earlier Committee sitting and is about the quantification of those terms. Are we going to measure or stipulate the time spent on the job? We have debated that briefly, but I would like it to be clear. The logic of the clause and this part of the Bill seems to suggest that we should. The contract will make clear what role an apprentice will be qualified to hold on completion, and it will stipulate the supervision that an apprentice will receive throughout the period of apprenticeship.
That brings me to my second question, which is about the quality as well as the quantity of supervision. I paint a picture—some might call it a romantic one—that for me sums up, describes and illustrates what an apprenticeship is in the eyes of most laymen, and what it should be in the eyes of those who believe strongly in the apprenticeship system. It is a picture of a willing learner, learning a craft or skill at the side—some might argue at the feet—of an experienced craftsman. We therefore need to know that that craftsman is experienced, qualified and competent to transmit the knowledge—the understanding—that we wish an apprentice to gain. We need to know how long the apprentice will be mentored and what form that mentoring will take.
Subsection (2) sets out the conditions that must be satisfied by an apprenticeship agreement. The agreement must be in a form that is to be prescribed by the Secretary of State. Subsection (3) gives the Secretary of State power
“to specify provisions that must”—
or must not—
“be included in an apprenticeship agreement”,
which is precisely why I am asking these questions. Subsection (4) enables the apprentice to enter into successive apprenticeship agreements relating to the same framework, even where that has ceased to be a recognised English framework.
Given that the clause stipulates those powers, it is important that we know how they will be realised and what they will lead to in terms of quality and quantity, and the contractual expectations of an apprentice and of those who provide training for an apprentice. I hope that the Minister will be able to elucidate, and by so doing, illuminate these matters.