---

Education and Skills Bill

I should like to echo the thanks given by the Front-Bench spokesmen for the Government and the Conservatives to all those in front of and behind the scenes who have helped with the scrutiny of the Bill over the past few months. It will be clear by now to all those who have taken part in the debates that there are fundamental differences of approach and philosophy in tackling this problem. On my side of the House, the emphasis has been on tackling the problems that cause many young people to leave the education system at 16 or even before. We have not yet focused on the fact that there are many young people aged 14 and 15 who should, by law, be in education but who are not, or on the fact that the existing laws are not very effective at keeping them in the system. In our debates, we have tried to focus not only on the ideological or philosophical gap between the Government, who believe in making it a criminal offence to be outside education at the ages of 16 and 17, and our emphasis on challenging inequalities of opportunity and ensuring that young people have the ability to go on beyond the age of 16. We have also tried to focus on some of the practical issues that we want addressed in order to be able to sign up to the practical effect of the Bill. I believe that hon. Members on both sides of the House share the aspiration that 16 and 17-year-olds should be either in education or employment, or in some other form of support if they are unable to be in education or employment. Very few Members would not want youngsters aged 16 or 17 to be in one of those settings. I want to raise a couple of points on which the Government have failed to satisfy us, and on which I hope the debates in another place will make some progress. I was disappointed that the Secretary of State was unwilling to incorporate into the Bill the provisions in new clauses 6 and 9 that would have made it clear that one of the options for young people, post-16, should be for them to be in some kind of supported setting that falls short of the formal education and training settings that the Government envisage in the Bill. I wonder whether the Government are more determined to reach a particular figure allowing them to say that every 16 or 17-year-old is in education and training than to really serve those young people's needs. We know, and I am sure the Minister would recognise, that there is a very small group of 16 or 17-year-olds who cannot easily engage in the type of education and training envisaged under the Bill. It would be sensible for the Government not to try to allow that eventuality to be dealt with in unspecified regulations or by urging local authorities and attendance panels to take some sort of flexible approach. This issue should be provided for directly in the Bill. It should be an option for local authorities to give young people with mental health problems or other health problems or who are alienated from the education system by the age of 16 the type of engagement that will bring them back into education while dealing with their underlying problems. I hope that the other place, which will look closely at this matter in its debates over the next few months, will seek to come back to this decision and include in the Bill the option to not simply have the inflexible education and training scenarios currently envisaged by the Government. The second issue that I hope the other place will return to in the months ahead is the treatment of young people who are in employment at the ages of 16 and 17. I am concerned, as are many hon. Members who participated in the debate, that the Bill could dissuade employers from offering young people aged 16 and 17 the job opportunities that often may be more relevant to those who have become disengaged from education and training in a formal setting. The risk is not only that those young people could lose out, but that we end up with a group of young people who do not engage in education and training, and who could be in employment but will not be because employers will be unwilling to take the risk on account of the enforcement measures in the Bill. I hope that the other place will be able to save this Bill, which is undoubtedly based on good aspirations, but is in danger, because of the process of legislation and the inflexibilities within the system, of becoming bad legislation, which would be bad for many of the young people affected by it.