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114Page 20, line 17, at end insert--
73AA.--(1) The Secretary of State may by regulations make such transitional provision and savings in connection with the repeal by the Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998 of the Education (Student Loans) Act 1990 ("the 1990 Act") as he considers necessary or expedient including--
(a) provision for any function which has been conferred under or by virtue of the 1990 Act to transfer to, or otherwise become exercisable by--
(i) the Secretary of State; or
(ii) such other person or body as may be prescribed,
to such extent as may be prescribed; and
(b) provision for the transfer to the Secretary of State or any such other person or body of rights or liabilities arising under or by virtue of the 1990 Act.
(2) Regulations made by virtue of paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (1) above may, in particular, provide for--
(a) any such function to be exercisable in pursuance of such regulations in such modified form as may be prescribed;
(b) the 1990 Act to have effect with such modifications as may be prescribed.").
115Page 20, line 19, leave out ("under") and insert ("by virtue of").
116Page 20, line 19, leave out ("73(1)(f)") and insert ("73(f)").
117Page 20, line 20, leave out ("respect of") and insert ("connection with").
118
(". After section 73B of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 there shall be inserted the following section--
73C.--(1) This section applies to any information which is held--
(a) by the Commissioners of Inland Revenue, or
(b) by a person providing services to those Commissioners and in connection with the provision of those services.
(2) Information to which this section applies may be supplied to--
(a) the Secretary of State or the Department of Education for Northern Ireland,
(b) any person or body acting on behalf of the Secretary of State or that department under the delegation of functions provisions, or
(c) any person or body by whom any function of the Secretary of State or that department is for the time being exercisable to any extent by virtue of the transfer of functions provisions,
for the purpose of enabling or assisting the recipient to exercise any function in connection with the operation of the student loans scheme.
(3) Information supplied under subsection (2) above shall not be supplied by the recipient to any other person or body unless it is supplied--
(a) to a person or body to whom it could have been supplied under that subsection, or
(b) for the purposes of any civil or criminal proceedings arising out of the student loans scheme.
(4) Subsections (2) and (3) above extend only to the supply of information by or under the authority of the Commissioners of Inland Revenue.
(5) This section does not limit the circumstances in which information may be supplied apart from this section.
(6) In this section--
"the delegation of functions provisions" means section 73ZA(3) of this Act or section (Transfer or delegation of functions relating to student support) (4) of the Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998;
"the transfer of functions provisions" means section 73ZA(1) of this Act or section (Transfer or delegation of functions relating to student support)(1) of the Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998; and
"the student loans scheme" means the provisions of--
(i) regulations under section 73(f) of this Act with respect to loans; or
(ii) regulations under section 19 of the Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998 so far as having effect in relation to loans under that section,
and in this subsection any reference to a provision of this Act includes a reference to any corresponding Northern Ireland legislation."").
119
Clause 25, page 21, line 11, leave out ("may") and insert ("shall").
Baroness Blackstone: My Lords, I beg to move that the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendments Nos. 73 to 122.
Moved, That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendments Nos. 73 to 122.--(Baroness Blackstone.)
On Question, Motion agreed to.
Clause 25, page 22, leave out lines 31 to 39.
Baroness Blackstone: My Lords, I beg to move that the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 123.
Moved, That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 123.--(Baroness Blackstone.)
120Page 21, line 19, at end insert--
("(2BB) No condition under subsection (2B) above shall apply in relation to any fees which are payable, in accordance with regulations under section 1 of the Education (Fees and Awards) Act 1983 (fees at universities and further education establishments), by students other than those falling within any class of persons prescribed by such regulations for the purposes of subsection (1) or (2) of that section (persons connected with the United Kingdom etc.).").
121Page 21, line 45, leave out ("respect of") and insert ("connection with").
122Page 22, line 27, after ("under") insert ("subsection (1) above by virtue of").
123
123A
That this House do disagree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 123.
Lord Mackay of Ardbrecknish: My Lords, I beg to move that this House do disagree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 123.
Moved, That this House do disagree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 123.--(Lord Mackay of Ardbrecknish.)
On Question, Motion agreed to.
[Amendments Nos. 123B and 123C to Commons Amendment No. 123 not moved.]
124
After Clause 27, insert the following new clause--
(".--(1) This section applies to training leading to an external qualification which is provided in Wales in pursuance of arrangements made by the Secretary of State under section 2(2)(f) of the Employment and Training Act 1973.
(2) The Chief Inspector shall, if requested to do so by the Secretary of State, arrange for any person providing training to which this section applies to be inspected under this section.
(3) A request by the Secretary of State under this section may relate to one or more such persons, and shall specify--
(a) the person or persons concerned, and
(b) the form or forms of vocational training to which the inspection is to relate.
(4) Before making any such request the Secretary of State shall consult the Chief Inspector as to the matters to be specified in the request in accordance with subsection (3).
(5) Any inspection under this section shall be conducted by one or more of the following, namely--
(a) any of Her Majesty's Inspectors of Schools in Wales, or
(b) any additional inspector authorised under paragraph 2 of Schedule 1 to the School Inspections Act 1996;
but such an inspector or inspectors may be assisted by such other persons (whether or not members of the Chief Inspector's staff) as the Chief Inspector thinks fit.
(6) In conducting an inspection under this section, the inspector or inspectors shall act in accordance with any instructions or guidelines given from time to time by the Secretary of State.
(7) Where an inspection under this section has been completed, the inspector or inspectors shall make a written report on the inspection, and shall send the report to the Secretary of State.
(8) The Secretary of State may arrange for any report of an inspection under this section to be published in such manner as he considers appropriate; and section 42A(2) to (4) of the School Inspections Act 1996 shall apply in relation to the publication of any such report by the Secretary of State as they apply in relation to the publication of a report by the Chief Inspector under any of the provisions mentioned in section 42A(2).
(9) In this section--
"the Chief Inspector" means Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools in Wales;
"external qualification" means a vocational qualification awarded or authenticated by such person or body as may be specified in or under regulations.").
Lord Whitty: My Lords, I beg to move that the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 124. I shall also speak to Amendment No. 125.
The situation in Wales, as provided for in this clause, is that the Chief Inspector of Schools in Wales should include the inspection of government funded vocational training and careers services, and the amendment to the Long Title is simply a consequence of that inclusion.
The Office of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector in Wales already carries out inspections of further education colleges on behalf of the Further Education Funding Council for Wales. That is unlike the situation with Ofsted in England. Given the links between work-based vocational training and that carried out in colleges, it makes sense for the same body to arrange the inspection of both aspects. In Wales OHMCI also inspects the quality of careers education provided by schools and colleges. The inspectorate therefore has considerable knowledge in this area and there is logic in drawing on this expertise to enable the chief inspector to inspect the work of the careers service. The extension of the chief inspector's remit would therefore streamline the current arrangements and in particular it would end the arbitrary division of inspection responsibilities between careers education carried out in schools and colleges and the work of the careers service. The providers and the services to be inspected would be specified by the Secretary of State for Wales in the first instance and agreed with the chief inspector. Inspection would be carried out by the office of the chief inspector, with the inspectorate free to draw in specialist staff to support this work, as appropriate, and the framework of inspection would be non-statutory, implemented through contracts with the organisations concerned.
This is a useful amendment reflecting the different situation in Wales.
Moved, That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 124.--(Lord Whitty.)
On Question, Motion agreed to.
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