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Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill

My noble friend Lord Elton is continuing to do his best to bring a level of precision and erudition to the Bill. We should remember perhaps that we are discussing a Bill whose name includes the words children and learning. It seems somewhat ironic therefore that so many of these amendments relate to a necessity for clarity, precision and the correct use of English. I welcome his argument that one should not have to look some way further forward in the Bill to reach an explanation of what one is reading. The Bill is already infamously long and convoluted. The use of the word "specification" in Clause 21, therefore, when the term is not defined until much later, seems to add a further layer of unnecessary complexity. I hope that the Minister will consider my noble friend’s amendments favourably. The Bill will benefit from the close and dedicated scrutiny that my noble friend brings to it.