Clause 64
9:15 pm
Jim Knight (Minister of State (Schools and Learners), Department for Children, Schools and Families; South Dorset, Labour)
It is essential that every young person is able to access high quality learning. That means that we must provide for the event that a local authority is not able to carry out its commissioning functions, and ensure that young people and providers in the local authority area are not disadvantaged because of that. Government amendments 313 to 315 support new local authority duties in relation to young offenders by giving the YPLA the power to intervene if a local authority has failed, or is likely to fail, to perform its duties in respect of people subject to youth detention. Without the amendments, the YPLA would be powerless to ensure that those young people receive the education that they deserve under the circumstances.
Amendments 393 to 395 would give the Secretary of State rather than the YPLA the necessary powers to give directions to a local authority, when the YPLA was satisfied that the local authority was failing or likely to fail in its duty under new section 15ZA and the amendments to it. However, the YPLA is far better positioned to give those directions. The YPLA has a remit to ensure that funding achieves the best balance of provision to meet young people’s needs and that overall budgetary control is maintained. Clause 64 gives the YPLA supporting power to ensure that it is able to fulfil that remit. Fundamentally, the YPLA will work with local authorities, and it will have a strong regional presence and that understanding of what is happening on the ground. As we have discussed, the Secretary of State will appoint the members of the board and ensure that there is good accountability for the decisions that the YPLA makes, and therefore rather than having to pass these issues up to the Secretary of State I hope that the Committee agrees that it is more appropriate for the YPLA to make the decisions.
The intention behind amendment 120 is to ensure that colleges have a right of appeal to the YPLA if they are unhappy with the funding or commissioning decision taken by the local authority. I have already mentioned the provisions in clause 70 under which the YPLA must prepare and consult with appropriate persons on a policy statement that sets out the details of its policy on its powers of intervention. That consultation will give stakeholders such as the Local Government Association, local authorities, the Association of Colleges, individual providers, and other parties that have a stake in the success of local authority commissioning processes, the opportunity to ensure that the intervention policy is suitable and that the triggers for intervention are appropriate. The effect of the amendment would be to enshrine in legislation the ability of further education colleges in particular to inform the YPLA when they are concerned that a local authority is failing.
Although we understand the potential concerns of colleges in particular, this amendment does not provide sufficient latitude for others with a similar interest to have that same degree of statutory influence. Instead, we believe that the combination of clause 64 and clause 70 will mean that the intervention process ensures that there are the right triggers and levers for all concerned, not just colleges. We are working with those partners to develop a draft of such a strategy and I will be happy to share that with the Committee at the earliest possible opportunity.
I hope that, having given all those fine assurances and indeed continuing with the theme of clarity that I spoke about when we were discussing the last amendment, hon. Members will agree that their amendments are unnecessary.