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Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill

While I sympathise with Amendment 196—that is always the prelude to disappointment, is it not?—I believe that it is right to focus resources where they can have the greatest economic impact. Waiving fees for those aged 19 up to 25 gives a second chance to those individuals who, for whatever reason, did not succeed at school. This second chance will enable them to gain their level 3 qualification and progress on into higher education or careers. Learners in this group are more likely to study full-time and less likely to have an independent source of income. Information on average wages suggests that adults under 25 without a level 3 qualification are in greater need of help with the cost of learning than those over 25. That was one of the criteria. When deciding which fees to waive, we must prioritise; level 3 courses in particular are expensive to provide. I cannot help pausing in this debate to think that the ghost of Lord Dearing should be haunting us. We all acknowledged his commitment and passion, and this was one of his objectives. To extend the duty to include adults aged between 25 and 30 would require an additional £70 million over the next two years. In response to the noble Lord, Lord De Mauley, on this age range, I think that we would be damned if we did and damned if we did not. Of course, spending money is no guarantee of success but, if we wanted to improve the skill base, we knew that we had to make a huge investment. There have been some 2.8 million adult achievements in basic skills since 2001, and more than 5.7 million have engaged in skills for life since then. I am advised by my officials that, unless I have misunderstood what the noble Baroness, Lady Perry, was saying, with literacy and numeracy qualifications there is no age barrier. Free literacy and numeracy courses will continue; that is the purpose of Clauses 85 to 87. That is backed by £1 billion of funding in the next year.