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Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill

I, too, support the spirit behind the amendment. I have reservations about subsection (1) of the proposed new clause, which my noble friend on the Front Bench has made clear. It may be possible to tweak that, or to find another way. However, the aim of getting substantial numbers of and, if possible, all care leavers into apprenticeships is laudable, particularly as we spent a lot of this afternoon talking about foundation skills, which is exactly what care leavers normally lack. Therefore, since they tend to be overrepresented in the criminal institutions, it will pay the Government and society, as well as those children, to get them into training that can equip them with foundation skills. Those skills will be useful not just for the jobs that they go to but also for managing their lives.