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Education and Skills Bill

My Lords, as we have discussed previously, enforcement action will always be a last resort. The focus of the policy is firmly on ensuring there is an appropriate and engaging learning opportunity for all young people and with the right support for them to stay in learning and succeed so that all who want to participate can do so. Successful implementation will depend on achieving this. If a young person is not participating, the emphasis will always be on help and support to address problems and re-engage the young person in learning long before any enforcement action is even considered. Looking specifically at Amendments Nos. 50, 52, 55 and 57, the presence of sanctions is necessary to make a reality of the new requirement to participate. If the new requirement is to be a serious one and to have the impact that we want in practice, we need to be clear that it is possible to enforce it as a last resort if absolutely necessary. Similarly, local authorities are used to holding in reserve a range of powers which they rarely, if ever, use, but which help to make a reality of requirements that they are responsible for implementing. As the representative of the Association of Directors of Children’s Services said in evidence sessions held in another place, "““as a director of children’s services, I have a range of powers that I never use. However, if I did not have them, I would have different conversations with a range of people … without them, my leverage on the activity would be much reduced””." Numerous safeguards are built into the system to ensure that a young person does not face enforcement action unexpectedly and inappropriately. There must be no reasonable excuse for their non-participation, and they must have been given appropriate support to participate. They must be given 15 days’ notice of the authority’s intention to begin the first stage of the enforcement process, as noble Lords are aware. There is a route of appeal to an independent panel at every stage and if at any point in the enforcement process the young person returns to learning, formal action will stop. So a young person will be given an attendance notice only after all other attempts to engage them have failed, and there are a number of checks and balances to ensure that they are used only appropriately. However, in introducing the process of attendance notices, we need to be clear what will happen if they are not complied with; otherwise they will be ineffective. It is this set of clauses that clearly lays out the consequences of failing to comply with an attendance notice. As I think everyone in the House accepts, it will be extremely rare for a young person actually to reach this stage in practice, but it is absolutely necessary to make the rest of the system work. For this reason, these clauses must stand part of the Bill. I will now speak to Amendments Nos. 47, 48 and 49, which seek to classify as a civil offence the offence of breaching an attendance notice. I appreciate the strength of feeling opposite. We have previously considered this option in some detail and concluded that it would not be in the interests of the young person or the local authority for the offence to be a civil offence, with a civil enforcement system. As the noble Baroness has said, civil penalties are enforced in the county courts, which are not set up to deal with young people in the way that youth courts are. I know that she takes issue with this, but, importantly, for example, judges in youth courts receive specialist training. We see it as important that as a matter of course youth courts are closed to the general public. I hear what the noble Baroness is saying and I am very interested in her views and in what she has brought to the discussion. However, a civil enforcement system for those under 18 could lead to greater financial costs to them. In a county court, the amount of debt for which a person is liable can increase as interest, court costs and recovery costs are added. In addition, the local authority could face mounting costs of pursuing the action. But that, for me, is not the issue. Let me also remind noble Lords that the criminal sanction comes only at the very end of the enforcement process. Civil sanctions alone do not present a realistic means of enforcing an attendance notice. I appreciate the noble Baroness’s strength of feeling, but I hope that she will withdraw her amendment today. On the government amendments, during Committee important points were raised in relation to the enforcement system for young people who fail to participate in education or training, and we did listen. That is why we have taken the incredibly unusual steps that we have. On 17 July in Committee, detailed questions were raised about the fine enforcement process for adults, as opposed to the youth courts system, and my noble friend Lord Adonis committed to come back on them. It was agreed that there was a need for amendments to ensure that a young person could not enter into custody as a result of defaulting, after the age of 18, on a fine imposed on him for failing to participate in education or training. As noble Lords are aware, it is the clear position of this Government that no person should enter custody as a result of committing the offence of failing to comply with an attendance notice without reasonable excuse. I appreciate the point made by the noble Baroness, Lady Walmsley, but if someone is over 18 and is in contempt of court, that is a different issue. In relation to those aged under 18, we are satisfied that there are sufficient safeguards in place to ensure that that will not happen, and custody is not an option available to the youth courts for default of payment of a fine. However, my department has been working with the Ministry of Justice to consider this matter.  While we do not believe it is realistic in practice that a court would impose a custodial sentence for non-payment of a level 1 fine on someone aged over 18, we would like to remove the possibility to achieve greater certainty on this point, about which the House was so concerned.  It is particularly important for all those affected by this legislation that we are absolutely clear about this. The government amendment achieves greater certainty by transferring from the magistrates’ court to the county court the enforcement of a fine imposed for this offence only once the individual turns 18. Similar provisions already exist under Section 87 of the Magistrates’ Courts Act to enable the magistrates’ court to transfer enforcement of a fine to the county court. However, in the case of this fine, if the court felt that it was appropriate to continue with enforcement action, it would be required to do so once the young person had reached 18. These provisions do not alter fine enforcement in general. They apply only in the specific case of a fine imposed for the offence in Clause 45 of failing to comply with an attendance notice without a reasonable excuse. I hope that noble Lords will welcome these reassurances and that the noble Baroness will withdraw her amendment and support the government amendment.