Clause 41

Part of Education and Skills Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 1:15 pm on 21 February 2008.

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Photo of David Laws David Laws Shadow Secretary of State (Children, Schools and Families) 1:15, 21 February 2008

Yes, that is true, but they might not have that option, particularly if the course that they want to take is closed that year or is not available in a setting that they reach. It may be difficult for them to afford transport costs, which we shall discuss later.

If I were a young person who did not want to comply with the Bill, I might well argue that the education offered to me was not suitable, particularly if I was not enthusiastic about taking up education and training in the first place. Somebody might come to me and say, “You should be in education and training. How about these eight different courses at Yeovil college?” All those courses would no doubt be excellent, particularly, I hasten to add, if they were on offer at Yeovil college. In another part of the country, however, there might not be any exciting courses on offer, and the educational institution might be less effective. How would suitability be defined in that case?

We therefore want a bit more clarity from the Minister on how the word “suitability” relates to a person’s needs and aptitudes. I am not sure whether he is saying that he will consider clarifying the issue between now and the Bill’s later stages, or whether, when he said that he would reflect on it, he meant that he would reflect on its more personalised elements. He said that there could be guarantees that the support needs would meet the young person’s requirements. That is a major concern, and there is also concern about the funding that might go with it. The issue is not only whether support needs can be identified, but whether they will be funded and whether that will be acceptable.

I am tempted, notwithstanding the Minister’s generosity, to press the amendment to a Division. However, if he intervenes on me to clarify which part of the issue he is willing to reflect on, I might feel much more reassured, and therefore less likely to do so.