---

Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill

I support Amendment 143 in the name of my noble friend Lord Rix, having taken part in the Childcare Act, which placed a duty on local authorities to secure sufficiency of childcare places. I think it established the principle that there needed to be assessments if the duty was to be complied with. I also ask the Minister—perhaps he would be kind enough to write to me—to assure the Committee that there is a sufficient mechanism to ensure that there is an assessment of whether the learning needs of young people in care and care leavers are met. I am grateful for what has already been done in the Bill for care leavers, particularly in securing sufficient apprenticeships as young people leave local authority care. A local authority should have a fair idea of how many young people leave care each year and should be able to seek employment opportunities and apprenticeships to meet that need. I would be grateful to hear what sort of mechanisms are in place in that regard, especially since we know that local authorities have not, until now, been very good at providing apprenticeships.