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Education and Skills Bill

Perhaps I may press the point a little further. The noble Lord has a great concern, as do we all, about the educational well-being of students who have come into contact with young offender institutions or have been involved in youth offending activities. That could be highly relevant information to assist them with their learning needs. The key issue here is that the information is only for the purpose of enabling or assisting local authorities to exercise their functions under that part of the Bill. I am sure that the noble Lord would himself accept that information of this kind could be highly relevant to enabling a local authority, and/or at the moment the Connexions service, to provide precisely the type of support that could be so important to a young offender to progress with their education and training. Indeed, in other debates we have considered the failure of public authorities to provide sufficient support to young people in young offender institutions—for example, with their transition back into wider society. It is a point on which the Government have been pressed very hard, and I think with some justice. Again, what is key is that the purposes for which the information is used are properly defined, and as I read the Bill, they are.