Annette
Brooke: It is exceedingly important to tease out where the
responsibility will be for the college and the local education
authority. Colleges have increasingly been put in a position in which
they have had to top up transport because local authorities are not
funding that. Equally, many in local authorities say that students have
their education maintenance allowance, but I am not convinced that the
EMA is necessarily intended for transport fees. Can we be clear that
local authorities will have adequate
funding?
Sarah
McCarthy-Fry: I have made the point that the increase
local authorities have had in their funding has enabled them to fulfil
their transport duties. It is not necessarily intended that the EMA
should be used to fund transport. We do not expect colleges to fund
transport routinely. That is the responsibility of the local education
authority. Given my remarks on amendment 125 and new clause
2, I hope that the hon. Lady will withdraw the
amendment.
Annette
Brooke: It is of course welcome that students and their
parents are being consulted, but the fact that colleges are having to
provide transport to overcome the shortcomings means that the
consultation has to be wider and also go to the providers so that they
can have their input in the local authority transport plan if the local
authority is to have ultimate responsibility for this. I ask the
Minister to take that on board. That will have to be clear in the
guidance. I would also like to echo the points made on colleges in
rural areas, as an important issue is that some young people in those
areas cannot access courses. That will be an expensive provision, but
if we truly mean it, it has to be backed by funds and resources. We
cannot tell young people that they can have all these opportunities
when in reality there could
be a barrier. I will perhaps revisit those points later, but having made
those comments, I beg to ask leave to withdraw the
amendment. Amendment,
by leave,
withdrawn. Clause
51 ordered to stand part of the
Bill. Clause
52 ordered to stand part of the
Bill.
Clause
53Complaints
about transport arrangements etc for persons of sixth form
age Question
proposed, That the clause stand part of the
Bill.
The
Chairman: With this it will be convenient to discuss the
following: new clause 3— Complaints about transport
arrangements— ‘(1)
After section 509AE of the Education Act 1996 (complaints about
transport arrangements etc for persons of sixth form age in England)
insert— “509AF
Complaints about transport arrangements etc for certain young
adults (1) A local education
authority may revise a statement prepared under section 508F to change
the arrangements specified under subsection (1) of that section if, as
a result of a certain young adult’s transport complaint, they
have come to consider the change necessary for the purpose mentioned in
that subsection. (2) A local
education authority must revise a statement prepared under section 508F
to change the arrangements specified under subsection (1) of that
section if, as a result of a certain young adult transport complaint,
the Secretary of State has directed them to do
so. (3) An authority that
revises a statement under subsections (1) or (2) must publish the
revised statement and a description of the revision as soon as
practicable. (4) The Secretary
of State need not consider whether to exercise any power under sections
496 to 497A (powers to prevent unreasonable exercise of functions, etc)
or subsection (2) of this section in response to a matter that is, or
could have been, the subject of a certain young adult transport
complaint made to him or her unless satisfied
that— (a) the matter has
been brought to the notice of the local education authority concerned,
and (b) the authority has had a
reasonable opportunity to investigate the matter and
respond. (5) In this section
“certain young adult transport complaint” means a
complaint that is— (a)
about a local education authority’s exercise of, or failure to
exercise, a function under sections 508F to 509AD in relation to
certain young adults, (b) made
by a person who is, or will be, a relevant young adult when the matter
complained of has effect, or by a parent of such a person,
and (c) made by a
“certain young adult” as defined by section 508F
(8). (6) For the purposes of
sections 508G(8), 509AB(1) to (5), and 509AD, the revision of a
statement under this section is to be treated as the preparation of a
statement under section
508F. (7) Where a local
authority has published in a single document a statement prepared under
section 508G and a statement prepared under 509AA, the requirement to
publish a revised statement under subsection (3) is to be treated as a
requirement to publish a version of the document that includes the
revised statement.”.
(2) In section 496 of the Education Act 1996 (power
of Secretary of State to prevent unreasonable exercise of functions),
after subsection (4) (as inserted by section 206(1) of this Act)
insert— “(6) This
section is subject to section 509AF (complaints about transport
arrangements etc for certain young adults in
England).”. (3) In
section 497 of the Education Act 1996 (general default powers of
Secretary of State), after subsection (6)
insert— “(7) This
section is subject to section 509AF (complaints about transport
arrangements etc for certain young adults in
England).”. (4) In
section 497A of the Education Act 1996 (power of Secretary of State to
secure proper performance of LEA’s functions), at end
insert— “(9) This
section is subject to section 509AF (complaints about transport
arrangements etc for certain young adults in
England).”.’.—(Annette
Brooke.)
New clause
4—Power of the Secretary of State to direct a review of
arrangements— ‘(1) The
Secretary of State may direct one or more local authorities to
undertake a review of their transport policy
statement. (2) The provision
which may be made by a direction includes provision
for— (a) the timetable
for the review and for the preparation and publication of a
scheme, (b) the procedures to
be followed in carrying out the
review, (c) particular issues
which the review and any scheme must address,
and (d) the implementation of
any
policy.’.
Annette
Brooke: I shall be brief on these points. New clause 3
relates to complaints about transport arrangements, and the Minister
has already alluded to the fact that there is a system within the Bill.
We welcome the improved route of appeal for young people of sixth-form
age and their parents on local authority transport arrangements.
However, since local authorities have a duty to provide transport where
necessary for learners with learning difficulties or disabilities up to
the age of 25, we feel that those students should have the
same right of redress. Therefore, I ask the Minister to give that
serious
consideration. New
clause 4 suggests that the Secretary of State may intervene. The Bill
seeks to strengthen existing duties on local authorities, but colleges
have genuine concerns that some local authorities have not been
fulfilling their statutory duties to produce appropriate transport
plans. As a backstop, the power to review any arrangements for
transport would ensure that they are effectively planned and, most
importantly, implemented, so that the whole scheme works to the
advantage of our young
people.
Sarah
McCarthy-Fry: Clause 53 introduces new arrangements for
sixth-form transport complaints. Local authorities will have a new
power to amend their transport policy statements during the year, to
take account of complaints or in response to direction from the
Secretary of State. An updated statement will be published with a
description of the change, ensuring that young people and their parents
can always access up-to-date information about the transport and
financial assessment arrangements available to them.
Sixth-form
transport complaints will need to be considered locally, before being
brought to the attention of the Secretary of State. Complaints
addressed locally can be resolved more quickly and effectively, as that
would take account of local context. Taken together, the measures will
lead to more responsive sixth-form transport policies, as local
authorities will have greater awareness of any problems that learners
face in accessing provision and will have a power to amend their
transport policy statements in response to complaints where
necessary. With
regard to young people aged 19 to 24 with learning difficulties and
disabilities, the changes in proposed new section 508G in clause 54
take us a step forward by ensuring that they will be given the
information that they need about the transport provision available
to
them. In
relation to new clause 3, we agree that complaints are usually best
addressed locally, as they can be resolved more quickly and
effectively, but we need to reflect further on the points made by the
hon. Member for Mid-Dorset and North Poole. I ask the hon. Lady not to
press it to a vote, because I shall reflect further on
that. On
new clause 4, I am sure that the hon. Lady would agree that we trust
local authorities to manage and review their own transport arrangements
for young people of sixth-form age. When there are complaints about
transport arrangements, the changes made in the Bill will ensure that
there are effective arrangements in place to resolve them. In cases
where a local authority is acting unreasonably in how it is fulfilling
its sixth-form transport duties or has failed to produce a transport
policy statement, the Secretary of State already has the power to
direct a local authority to review its policy or to produce a policy
statement. Therefore, an additional power for the Secretary of State to
direct a local authority to review its statement is
unnecessary. The
measures in clause 53 have an important part to play in ensuring local
accountability in the implementation of the transport duty. I hope that
clause 53 can stand part of the Bill
unamended.
Annette
Brooke: I thank the Minister for her comments,
particularly as far as new clause 3 is concerned. I look forward to the
results of the further reflection on that point, because it seems as if
something has been left out. I am relieved that there is already a
power, which exists simply as a backstop, because I would be one of the
first to say that we should trust local authorities. However, there
appear to be variations between authorities and it is important that
the power exists. Since I have been reassured on that point, I beg to
ask leave to withdraw the two new
clauses.
The
Chairman: It is not necessary to do that, because they
have not been formally
moved. Question
put and agreed
to. Clause
53 ordered to stand part of the
Bill.
Clause
54Local
education authorities in England: provision of transport etc for adult
learners Amendment
made: 273, in clause 54, page 35, leave
out lines 39 to 41.—(Sarah
McCarthy-Fry.) This
amendment is consequent on amendment 282.
Clause 54,
as amended, ordered to stand part of the
Bill. Clauses
55 and 56 ordered to stand part of the
Bill.
Schedule
2LEA
functions: minor and consequential
amendments Amendments
made: 281, in schedule 2, page 152, line 30, leave out from
‘(1)’ to end of line 31 and insert
‘after “secondary education” insert
“and, in the case of a local education authority in England,
further
education,”’. This
amendment is consequent on amendment
282. Amendment
282, in
schedule 2, page 152, line 34, leave
out from ‘persons’ to end of line and insert
‘— (a) who are over
compulsory school age but under 19,
or (b) who are aged 19 or over
but under 25 and are subject to learning difficulty
assessment. (4) For the
purposes of this Act a person is subject to learning difficulty
assessment if— (a) a
learning difficulty assessment has been conducted in respect of the
person, or (b) arrangements for
a learning difficulty assessment to be conducted in respect of the
person have been made or are required to be
made. (5) In subsection (4), a
“learning difficulty assessment” means an assessment
under section 139A or 140 of the Learning and Skills Act 2000
(assessments relating to learning
difficulties). (6) For the
purposes of subsection (1), persons who are subject to a detention
order are to be regarded as part of the population of the area in which
they are detained (and not any other
area).”’. New
section 13(4) and (5) of the Education Act 1996 defines when persons
are subject to a learning difficulty assessment for 1996 Act purposes.
New section 13(6) identifies the area to whose population persons
subject to a detention order are treated as belonging for section 13(1)
purposes. Amendment
348, in
schedule 2, page 153, line 13, after
‘functions’ insert
‘and their
relevant training
functions’. This
amendment is consequential on clause 47 and ensures that section 13A of
the Education Act 1996 applies to local education authorities in Wales
when they exercise their new training functions under new section
18A(1)(b) of that
Act. Amendment
349, in
schedule 2, page 153, line 16, leave
out ‘educational’ and insert
‘learning’. This
amendment is consequent on amendment
348. Amendment
283, in schedule 2, page 153, leave out
lines 19 to 21. This
amendment is consequent on amendment
282. Amendment
350, in
schedule 2, page 154, line 18, leave
out from ‘difficulty”)’ to end of line 19 and
insert— ‘for
“15A or 15B” substitute “15ZA, 15A, 15B or
18A”’ This
amendment clarifies that the definition of “learning
difficulty” which applies to section 18A is that set out
in new section 15ZA(7) and (8) of the Education Act 1996 (as inserted
by clause
40). Amendment
351, in
schedule 2, page 154, line 24, at
end insert— ‘
After section 569
insert— “569A
Regulations made by Welsh Ministers under Chapter
5A
(1) Any power of the Welsh Ministers to make
regulations under Chapter 5A shall be exercised by statutory
instrument. (2) A statutory
instrument containing any such regulations made by the Welsh Ministers
shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of the
National Assembly for
Wales. (3)
Any such regulations may make different provision for different cases,
circumstances or areas and may contain such incidental, supplemental,
saving or transitional provisions as the Welsh Ministers think
fit.” In
section 579(1) (general
interpretation)— (a) in the
definition of “prescribed”, after
““prescribed”” insert “(except in
Chapter 5A)”; (b)
in the definition of “regulations”,
after ““regulations”” insert
“(except in Chapter
5A)”.’. This
amendment is consequent on amendment 344 and reinserts new section 569A
of the Education Act
1996. Amendment
284, in schedule 2, page 154, leave out
lines 25 to 27 and
insert— ‘In
section 580 (index) insert the following entries at the appropriate
places— “relevant
young adult (in sections 508F and 508G) section
508F(8)”; “relevant
youth accommodation section
562(1A)”; “subject
to a detention order section
562(1A)”; “subject
to learning difficulty assessment section
13(4)”.’. This
amendment is consequent on amendments 271 and
282. Amendment
352, in
schedule 2, page 154, line 27, at
end insert— Education
Act 2002
(c. 32) ‘ In
section 207(2) of the Education Act 2002 (c. 32) (recoupment:
adjustment between local education authorities), for “primary
education and secondary education)” substitute
“— (a) primary
education; (b) secondary
education; (c) education
provided under section 562C of the Education Act 1996 (detention of
persons with special educational needs: appropriate special educational
provision).”—(Jim
Knight.) This
amendment amends section 207 of the Education Act 2002 to enable
regulations to make provision for a local education authority to recoup
the cost of making the special educational provision required under new
section 562C of the Education Act 1996 (inserted by NC17) from another
authority. Schedule
2, as amended, agreed
to.
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