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Further Education and Training Bill [HL]

My Lords, I rise to support Amendment No. 43, tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Dearing, and to welcome Amendments Nos. 41, 42 and 44, tabled by the Minister. In so doing, I declare my interest as chief executive of Universities UK. Since the Bill was published I have greatly appreciated the way Ministers and noble Lords from across the House have been willing to engage in really constructive debate about how Clause 19 could be improved. I do not want, at this stage in our debate, to rehearse the reasons I gave at Second Reading for believing that the measures in Clause 19 are a mistake. We are where we are. I recognise that the real task before this House is to define the improvements to the Bill that will prevent unintended consequences, about which I—and many other Peers—have had concerns. As the Minister said, the two issues that have become the focus of attention—and which have been reaffirmed by virtually every speaker—are addressed in Amendments Nos. 41 and 43, and relate to progression and the franchising of courses. I shall deal with franchising first. The Bill, as currently drafted, would give colleges that gain foundation-degree-awarding powers the right to validate courses delivered by other third-party institutions, both in the UK and abroad. The Minister has made some very welcome commitments on that front but, as I said earlier, further education colleges will be taking on primary responsibility for the quality and standards of their own foundation degree qualifications for the first time. To allow them to validate provision in third-party institutions at the same time would substantially increase the risks to reputation and quality management. The measures in Clause 19 already pose risks to reputation; therefore it is right to proceed cautiously. It is clear from what my noble friend has said that the Government have accepted this. Indeed the Minister’s amendment gives the Privy Council the power to exclude the right to authorise other institutions to grant awards on behalf of an institution newly in receipt of foundation-degree-awarding powers. In the package of information published on 11 February it is made clear—and the Minister reaffirmed this—that the Privy Council will be advised to apply this restriction for the first six years only. As I understand it, at the end of that period a college will have to re-apply for foundation-degree-awarding powers and the Privy Council will be encouraged to grant unlimited powers, both in terms of time and the right to franchise their courses. I very much welcomed what my noble friend said in presenting his amendments. I can see why the Government have done this, but I do not, on reflection, believe that it goes far enough. The Government have made it clear from the outset that they envisage only a small number of colleges, which already deliver a large volume of foundation degrees and have substantial experience in this area, gaining these powers. I cannot believe that it was intended that the further education sector should, at any stage, be able to establish consortia whereby a small number of colleges validate foundation degrees in a wide range of partner colleges, effectively cutting universities out of the loop possibly across a whole region. That could happen; indeed, we have heard reports that that is already the intention of a group of London colleges. The point is that this could increase the likelihood of the foundation degree becoming seen as a signature FE qualification, and yet the Government chose to call it a degree because they wanted the explicit link with universities. The evidence from Foundation Degree Forward confirms the importance of this for prospective students and employers. Welcome though the Minister’s amendments are, as are his subsequent assurances, we need to go further and I support Amendment No. 43 of the noble Lord, Lord Dearing, which would exclude in perpetuity the possibility of franchising by FE colleges. On progression, the other major issue with which we have been dealing, other noble Lords have emphasised the importance of students on foundation degrees having concrete options for progression on to honours-level study. Again, the Minister helpfully outlined how the Government intend to ensure that progression arrangements remain a key component of foundation degrees. That is enormously welcome but, again, it does not go far enough. I hope that the Minister will be persuaded in particular by the arguments of the noble Lord, Lord Dearing. They would make it a requirement that to successfully apply for foundation degree-awarding powers, a college must have secured agreements with at least one higher education institution to guarantee progression from all its foundation degrees to full honours level. The Minister has said that that is already secured through the current requirements of the academic infrastructure and, therefore, putting such a detail into primary legislation would be unnecessary. However, given the importance of this issue, which others have emphasised—and I can only reaffirm—the strength of feeling on it, and given that academic infrastructure could very easily be subject to change over time without reference to this House, it would be helpful to put the matter beyond doubt. If the Minister has no objection to the principle, which he has re-affirmed, that progression should be embedded in the criteria for gaining foundation degree-awarding powers, I hope that he will not object to making that explicit on the face of the Bill, as has been urged by the noble Baroness, Lady Morris, and the noble Lord, Lord Dearing. Finally, and briefly, I welcome Amendment No. 44, which would ensure that the arrangements introduced by the Bill were subject to review after four years.I also welcome the statements in the material published by the Department for Education and Skills on 11 February to the effect that the draft criteria will be amended to time-limit the initial award of the new foundation degree-awarding powers to six years. Both steps seem eminently sensible. I should like to record my thanks to the Minister for the way in which he has responded to our debates in Committee, has anticipated our arguments this evening and has given us further reassurances. We are making good progress and I hope that we can persuade him to go just a bit further on the issues of franchising and progression.