Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill
Legislative Consent Memorandum
Draft Legislative Consent Motion
1. The draft motion, which will be lodged by the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, is:
"That the Parliament agrees that the relevant provisions of the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill, introduced in the House of Commons on 4 February 2008, relating to the management of Career Development Loans and the Managing Information Across Partners programme, so far as these matters fall within the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament or alter the executive competence of the Scottish Ministers, should be considered by the UK Parliament."
Background
2. This memorandum has been lodged by Fiona Hyslop, Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, under Rule 9.B.3.1(a) of the Parliament's standing orders. The Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill ("the Bill") was introduced in the House of Commons on 4 February 2009. The Bill can be found at:
http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2008-09/apprenticeshipsskillschildrenandlearning.html
Content of the Bill
3. The Bill makes provisions relating to education and training and primarily impacts on England. The Bill will introduce a number of measures aimed at improving schools' performance; introduce the right to request time off to train (this provision will extend to Scotland); establish a statutory right to apprenticeships for young people; and establish a number of new bodies in relation to qualifications and funding.
Provisions that relate to Scotland
4. Amongst the new bodies to be established by the Bill are the Young People's Learning Agency and the Skills Funding Agency. These agencies will take over many of the functions currently carried out by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), which will be abolished. Two of the LSC's functions were the subject of a Legislative Consent Memorandum (LCM) under the Further Education and Training Act 2007 and relate to the management of Career Development Loans and the services developed under the Managing Information Across Partners programme (MIAP).
5. Clause 14 in the Bill will transfer powers, previously held by the LSC, to the Young People's Learning Agency and the Skills Funding Agency. An LCM is required to allow the Young People's Learning Agency and the Skills Funding Agency to exercise functions in Scotland in relation to education and training - matters which are within the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament.
6. The UK bill will also confer functions directly on the Scottish Ministers and will therefore alter executive competence. As a result, Scottish Ministers will be able: to enter into arrangements with the Skills Funding Agency (about Career Development Loans); to consent to arrangements between the Skills Funding Agency and bodies in Scotland exercising training and education functions in relation to Career Development Loans; and to request services from the Young People's Learning Agency and the Skills Funding Agency that have been developed through MIAP to extend to Scotland.
7. Career Development Loans allow individuals in Great Britain to participate in learning. They are aimed at supporting increasing levels of participation in vocational learning, encouraging more individuals to take responsibility for their own learning, and encouraging financial institutions to view learning as an investment worthy of a loan.
8. The UK Government has announced that Career Development Loans will be re-branded in September 2009 as Professional and Career Development Loans with a number of changes. The key changes envisaged by the UK Government are to increase the volume of loans available (from 15,000 to 45,000 in 2010-11), to increase the rate and amount of loan funding available (100% funding rather than 80% and loan ceiling raised to £10,000) and to negotiate reduced interest rates with the banks.
9. The aim of the MIAP programme is to enable learner and learning data to be shared across the education sector within the UK. A Learner Registration Service (to allocate a Unique Learner Number) has been developed through the MIAP programme and work is underway to develop a Learner Record (a qualifications and skills summary).
Reasons for seeking a Legislative Consent Motion
10. The LCM is required because the executive competence of Scottish Ministers is being expanded in relation to the functions noted above. This develops the arrangements previously established as a result of the Session 2 LCM relating to the Further Education and Training Act 2007. This will ensure that Scottish Ministers have the powers to instruct the new Skills Funding Agency to amend the criteria for Career Development Loans for Scottish learners and to ensure that, in future, Scottish learners will be able to benefit from the developments in the MIAP programme.
Consultation
11. The Scottish Government has not consulted on the issues relating to the LCM. However, for the previous LCM in 2007, the Scottish MIAP Group was consulted. The Group commissioned a report into various aspects of the work and concluded that there was a desire to work alongside developments in England to ensure a joined up approach, particularly for individual learners.
Financial implications
12. There are no financial implications for this LCM.
Conclusion
13. The Scottish Government believes that it is in the best interests of the Scottish people that a) the Young People's Learning Agency and the Skills Funding Agency be able to exercise certain functions in Scotland, in consequence of the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill, and that b) Scottish Ministers should exercise certain executive functions in relation to Scotland, thereby building on the situation originally established by the Further Education and Training Act 2007. In particular, this will ensure that Scottish Ministers have the powers to amend the criteria for Career Development Loans to reflect the needs of Scottish learners and to maintain the option of extending to Scotland some of the services developed under the MIAP programme in the future. The Scottish Government therefore recommends that, so far as these matters fall within the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament, or alter the executive competence of the Scottish Ministers, they should be considered by the UK Parliament.
Scottish Government
February 2009