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Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill

My Lords, the effectiveness of this kind of provision, which I wholeheartedly support—it would be wonderful if it happened in this way—depends on the issue of initial assessment. Somebody must decide what the needs of the young person are before these can be communicated. I am increasingly concerned with the question of the "who", which my noble friend Lord Elton raised earlier. The assessment of literacy and numeracy is not an easy and straightforward task that anybody can do. Often, it involves oral testing on passages that are read out. There are flows of young people coming into custody all the time, all over the country. Where is the army of people qualified to do assessments coming from, and who will be charged with providing it? Will the assessors have to come out of local schools? Will the local authority provide them? I would appreciate the Minister’s comments on what the assessment will be and who will do it.