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Education and Skills Bill

I think that the hon. Gentleman is deceiving himself. He was defending the status quo and defending lifelong learning for a tiny minority; the Bill is about extending lifelong learning to a large majority. In addition to raising the participation age, there are hugely important questions about the introduction of the level 2 and level 3 entitlements and providing for the extension of apprenticeships. I hope that as the Bill goes through Committee the Government will carefully consider the implementation of level 2 and level 3 entitlements. The Bill refers to entitlements for a full level 2 or full level 3 qualification, but the difficulty is that many people between the ages of 19 and 25 are not in a position to acquire a full level 3 entitlement all at one go. I hope that as the debate progresses we might consider extending that policy so that the entitlement applies to individual components of level 3 qualifications for people who do not already have one. It is important that we rethink the concept of a full level 3 entitlement. In respect of the extension of apprenticeships, there has been a huge improvement not only in completion rates but in the total number of young people participating in them. We now have 250,000 successful apprenticeships—almost a threefold increase since the Conservatives were last in power. In a country where the work force are increasingly encouraged and required to be mobile, the portability of apprenticeships will become increasingly important. One of the reasons why, in the past, take-up and completion rates of apprenticeships have not been as good as we might wish is that many young people had difficulty in transferring their apprenticeships to new employers. Just as we need to deal with the components of full level 3 qualifications if the level 3 entitlement is to be implemented successfully, we need to look seriously at how the apprenticeship system can be made more portable. I welcome the fact that local authorities have been given a more strategic planning role over the 14-to-19 sector. That will involve great responsibilities, and it will link in with the Building Schools for the Future programme. We need to think carefully about where students attend their studies—not only those who are currently inclined to stay on beyond the age of 16 but those who will be encouraged and required to do so in future. I sense that deep in the bowels of the Department for Children, Schools and Families, or in the former Department for Education and Skills, someone came up with the idea that it was possible for young people to carry out their studies at a range of different institutions. To accept that that idea is inevitable does not match the reality of young people's behaviour. It is entirely possible for young people to split their week between more than one institution—a college or an employer, a school or a college, or possibly between a school, college and an employer. However, let us be realistic. We are talking about some of the least well motivated young people in the country and it is utterly naive to assume that they can be expected to have the responsibility and discipline to criss-cross their town or city on a number of different bus routes to attend different institutions. I want to strike a note of caution: perhaps we should rethink the pattern of provision for young people. It is a little theoretical to assume that the future pattern of all 14-to-19 studies will be for young people to move among a variety of institutions. I welcome the fact that local authorities are given new powers on school transport, and that they are now required to consider travel times as well as distance when planning transport arrangements. I come to my final point, which is to refer to early-day motion 245. It stands in my name, and is entitled ““Climate change and concessionary travel schemes for young people””. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State will know that in London, free travel is already available for all young people up to the age of 18. It seems to me an entirely logical extension of the Government's policy of raising the participation age to 17, and then to 18, to make concessionary travel part of their package of measures. The Opposition have made great play of their concern about compulsion and put emphasis on the importance of incentives, and I hope that they can be persuaded that one of the biggest incentives for young people to continue participation in education and training is the provision of free travel. Such a measure would reduce the likelihood of young people learning to drive too soon, and of their driving dangerously. It would reduce the incidence of young people becoming problem drivers. Without question, it would reduce levels of congestion and pollution in our cites. It would give a major boost to public transport. It would set the habits of travel for a lifetime if young people found it was much easier and cheaper to get around on public transport than it was to use private vehicles. If they use public transport at that age, they are more likely to continue to do so as they grew older. I understand that that matter is not the responsibility of the Bill, but I wanted to take the opportunity to urge my hon. and right hon. Friends to discuss it with the Secretary of State for Transport. One of the Government's great successes in this Parliament has been the introduction of a concessionary travel scheme for retired people, and the logical extension of the policies in the Bill is a nationwide concessionary travel scheme for young people.