Clause 81
3:15 pm
Jim Knight (Minister of State (Schools and Learners), Department for Children, Schools and Families; South Dorset, Labour)
While the hon. Member for South Holland and The Deepings described himself as a stout defender, and was working on his stoutness over lunch, I was at the Local Government Association at a meeting with councillors, to whose work I pay tribute.
I understand the sentiment behind the amendments. It is, of course, essential that the chief executive of the SFA, through the NAS, consults employers and training providers, both about the volume of apprenticeship places that they are able to offer and about how to stimulate demand for apprenticeships among young people—indeed, in clause 82, there is some mention of the work that the SFA will carry out with employers.
The NAS will also work closely with employers and providers to increase the number of apprenticeships on offer. I can provide a categorical assurance to the Committee that that will happen. Relationships with employers and training providers are critical if we are to ensure that the apprenticeship scheme is implemented effectively. However, the amendment would undermine the relationship between the NAS, which will be acting on behalf of the chief executive of the SFA, and local authorities. That relationship is central to the successful operation of the apprenticeship scheme. Removing that duty to co-operate would mean that there is no link between local authorities’ role in the provision of 16-to-19 learning places and the NAS’s role in securing a sufficient supply of apprenticeship places to meet demand. Without that linkage, the apprenticeship scheme cannot be implemented effectively. I think that the hon. Gentleman believes that we cannot have a good relationship between the NAS and local authorities, between the NAS and employers, and between local authorities and employers, but I believe that that circle can be squared.
The key principle underpinning the 16-to-19 planning process is that local authorities will plan and commission provision across the full range of post-16 options available to young people, and that funding should follow learner choices. Planning by local authorities must therefore reflect, as closely as possible, the choices that young people are likely to make, and the trends in their choices about what, where and when they want to learn. We are committed to ensuring that apprenticeships are rooted as a high-quality, mainstream education and training route for young people, fully integrated in the common application process and the 14-to-19 prospectus. The relationship between local authorities and the NAS is critical to ensuring that that situation comes about. It is for that reason that I hope that the amendment will be withdrawn.