Clause 80
2:45 pm
Annette Brooke (Mid Dorset and North Poole, Liberal Democrat)
I shall endeavour to be brief, concise and to the point, because I am looking forward to precise clarification from the Minister. The amendments and two new clauses are interconnected and attempt to get clarification on the situation with regard to people with learning difficulties. There are many opportunities in the proposed apprenticeship programme, and we need to get things right for people with disabilities.
Amendment 229 is intended to give recognition to the importance of apprenticeships in supporting disabled people to bridge the gap between education and the labour market. Apprenticeships are important in supporting disabled people to gain qualifications, workplace experience and skills. Both employers and employees gain valuable experience and skills in understanding disability and breaking down barriers.
Royal National Institute of Blind People research indicates that 92 per cent. of employers would find it difficult or impossible to employ a blind or partially sighted person, which just shows that, given the Bill’s high objectives, it will not be easy to tackle the issue, although it will be necessary to do so. The proposed extra duty in amendment 229 would enable the chief executive of Skills Funding to tackle the problem. I should be grateful for the Minister’s response to the simple proposal of adding the requirement that the chief executive takes on board the need to support fully people with learning difficulties.
Amendment 230 is fairly straightforward and should involve the straightforward matter of the Minister telling me that the proposal will be introduced. It would ensure that people with disabilities have access to the information that they need. He will be aware that I have been involved in trying to improve access to textbooks for people with sight impairment, and it is very difficult to ensure full accessibility. The amendment, therefore, focuses on learners with some form of print-related disability—blind and partially sighted people, and all who find it difficult to access material in written or electronic forms. We ask for a properly designed website that conforms with web content accessibility guidelines, an accessible print format, such as large print, giant print or Braille, an audio format or an easy-to-read format. The amendment would mean that the chief executive has to ensure that all information on apprenticeships, whether from the NAS, the national portal, or from an employer’s advertisement, was accessible to disabled would-be apprentices.
On new clause 10, we established last week that the chief executive will have a duty to those with learning difficulties, and that learning difficulties was an all-encompassing term. A learning difficulty or a physical disability might create issues with accessing the training under discussion. As I understand the situation, the chief executive has a duty to those with learning difficulties in respect of disabled learners aged 19 to 25. The chief executive must also have due regard for those over 16 with a statement of special educational needs. However, those aged 16 to 18 years old who do not have a statement may not have one for all sorts of reasons: they may not have been assessed at school; they may have failed to get a statement; or they might have developed a learning disability, such as sight loss, aged 17. I am therefore concerned that the Bill might not cover those people, so I am looking for a clear answer, because that could represent a significant oversight, and disabled apprentices in that age group must be given the same support that we welcome the Bill giving to their statemented or post-19 peers.
There are a few further points to clarify, and they are relevant to all the amendments. The Learning and Skills Council was a statutory body and had a disability equality duty, but there is general concern about whether the Skills Funding Agency will have that specific duty. It is quite difficult to work through that issue, given the body’s formation and its location within the new structure, but we need an assurance that the new and complicated structure that is proposed will deal with that duty.
Finally, employer-led programmes and special educational needs provision obviously have to be of concern to agencies representing those with learning disabilities. We drafted new clause 11 to find out how the duties towards those with learning difficulties will be met while the apprentice is in the workplace. It can be difficult to perform such duties in the classroom, but it is even more important to do so in the workplace and support will be critical and valuable. We should also be interested to know how the Government intend to join up SEN provision access to work provision. There are several probing aspects within the string of amendments and new clauses, and I hope that we can receive clarification because they are important for many people within the age groups under discussion.