Education (Careers Guidance in Schools) Bill The Committee
consisted of the following Members: Chair: Geraint Davies † Bailey,
Shaun (West Bromwich West) (Con) † Baynes, Simon (Clwyd South)
(Con) Brown, Alan (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (SNP) † Burghart, Alex
(Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education) Farron, Tim
(Westmorland and Lonsdale) (LD) † Fell, Simon (Barrow and Furness)
(Con) † Gibson, Peter (Darlington)...Request free trial
Education (Careers
Guidance in Schools) Bill
The Committee consisted of the following Members:
Chair:
† (West Bromwich West)
(Con)
† (Clwyd South) (Con)
(Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
(SNP)
† (Parliamentary
Under-Secretary of State for Education)
(Westmorland and Lonsdale)
(LD)
† (Barrow and Furness) (Con)
† (Darlington) (Con)
(Denton and Reddish)
(Lab)
† (Hastings and Rye)
(Con)
† (Luton South) (Lab)
† (Workington) (Con)
(Liverpool, Riverside)
(Lab)
† (Wantage) (Con)
† (Hove) (Lab)
† (Great Grimsby) (Con)
† (Chesterfield) (Lab)
† (West Bromwich East)
(Con)
Adam Mellows-Facer, Committee Clerk
† attended the Committee
Public Bill Committee
Wednesday 27 October 2021
[Geraint Davies in the Chair]
Education (Careers Guidance in Schools) Bill
09:25:00
The Chair
Good morning. Before we begin our scrutiny, I have to make a few
preliminary remarks. I remind members of the Committee to switch
off or silence any electronic devices. I encourage hon. Members
to wear masks when they are not speaking; this is in line with
the current guidance of the House of Commons Commission. Please
also give one another and members of staff space, both while
seated and when entering and leaving the room. I remind everyone
that they are asked by the House to have a lateral flow test
twice a week if they are coming on to the parliamentary estate;
this can be done either at the testing centre in the House or at
home. Hansard colleagues would be grateful if hon. Members
emailed their speaking notes to hansardnotes @parliament.uk.
My selection and grouping list for today’s sitting is available
online and in the Committee Room. No amendments have been
tabled.
Clause 1
Extension of duty to provide careers guidance in schools
Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
The Chair
With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:
Clause 2 stand part.
Clause 3 stand part.
(Workington) (Con)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Davies. I
am grateful to you and to fellow Committee members for joining me
today. We have an opportunity to drill down into the finer detail
of this important legislation, which will ultimately make a
positive difference in the lives of young people across
England.
At present, the statutory duty to provide careers guidance falls
on maintained schools, special schools and pupil referral units,
but not academies, although many academies now have that duty
through their funding agreement. The Bill would address that
anomaly by placing the same requirement on all types of
state-funded secondary school.
Addressing these disparities will ensure consistency across the
board, and is central to the creation of a more level playing
field. We cannot leave the future of our young people to blind
chance. Whether a child succeeds or fails cannot be determined by
a postcode lottery. If we mean what we say when we talk about
levelling up—if the phrase is to be more than a political
slogan—we are duty-bound to address these anomalies and embrace
the spirit of greater fairness.
Equality of opportunity must be embedded in the education system.
Advice must be consistent, of the highest quality and accessible
to everyone. It is also important that we give our young people
the best careers advice as early as possible. It has to start at
the very earliest opportunity, and it must be regular and ongoing
as they make their journey through school towards their chosen
career. Such early, regular interventions will not only equip
them for the world of work, but stop them straying down a dead
end. It will light their way to greater things.
Many of us spend much of our life in work. It is therefore
important that we give our young people the tools to find a
career that suits their personality and talents and that they
find rewarding. Choices made at school help to define what we
achieve, and even how happy and fulfilled we are later in
life.
I am not surprised that many young people are anxious and
uncertain about their education and employment prospects in these
unprecedented times. Covid has brought huge disruption and forced
many young people to re-evaluate their options. Unexpected change
and challenges can open new doors, encourage us to be adaptable
in our goals and help us to discover reserves of resilience and
even talents that we did not know we had, but we must also have
the appropriate support and guidance in place to help young
people negotiate the obstacles and encourage them to make the
most of their talents.
I am deeply conscious of the stark disadvantages facing many
young people who have so much to contribute but are often written
off too soon. Giving children access to good careers advice is
one of the most effective ways of addressing that inequality.
Providing enhanced careers guidance also makes financial sense as
we build back better, because it will contribute to the
high-skills, high-productivity recovery that we seek to develop.
It will support all young people in developing the skills and
attributes to succeed in the workplace, and in some cases it will
nurture the community leaders of the future. The Bill would
therefore extend careers guidance from year 8 down to year 7 to
ensure that our children are given the best information to make
the best choices.
Creating this level playing field will also give Ofsted the tools
that it needs to guarantee that our children benefit from
first-rate careers advice. As a direct result of the Bill,
approximately 650,000 year 7 pupils across England will be
entitled to additional careers guidance. The Bill will introduce
additional provision for 2,700 academies. It will put into
statute the Government’s commitment in the White Paper, “Skills
for Jobs: Lifelong Learning for Opportunity and Growth”, to the
UK’s post-pandemic recovery, and it will build on the important
work already under way to develop a coherent and well established
career guidance system.
09:30:00
Education and training providers and careers services in my
constituency of Workington are already rising to the challenge,
and that is successfully being replicated across the country,
with 45% of secondary schools and colleges now in careers hubs.
We are seeing rapid improvements in hubs, and there are
disadvantaged areas among the best performers, but it is not
enough to nurture talent; we must also work to retain and attract
it. The Bill will help to ensure that young people are aware of
the opportunities both on their doorstep and further afield.
Young people often tell us that one of the biggest barriers is
not knowing which careers exist. Making it easier for them to
engage with employers from an early age can help them relate
career opportunities to their own life, skills and interests.
I thank everyone from across the House for their support today,
and for their input in Committee as the Bill takes shape. We are
moving a step closer to helping our young people realise and
unleash their vast potential, for their own good and that of the
country.
(Great Grimsby) (Con)
I congratulate my hon. Friend on bringing this private Member’s
Bill forward, and thank the Minister for his hard work in this
field. As we know, the matter of skills in schools is absolutely,
utterly vital. The extension of careers guidance to those in year
7 is important, because as my hon. Friend said, quite often,
children and teachers do not really know what opportunities are
available on their doorstep. In seats such as mine of Great
Grimsby, and in Workington and other red wall seats, we see a
disparity: children do well in primary school, but we lose that
impetus when they get into secondary school. Careers guidance,
making school relevant to young people, and teachers interacting
more effectively with local business leaders and companies will
make a real change to progress and attainment in schools. I
congratulate and support my hon. Friend wholeheartedly.
(Hove) (Lab)
It is the first time I have served under your chairmanship, Mr
Davies, and I am grateful for the chance to do so. I again pay
tribute to the hon. Member for Workington for bringing forward
the Bill; I did so on the Floor of the House, and am happy to
repeat the compliment today, because it is a real tribute to him
that he has got the Bill this far. Speaking as a relatively new
MP, I have to say to him that getting a private Member’s Bill
past Second Reading on the Floor of the Commons and into
Committee is the political equivalent of getting a golden ticket
to Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory—not that I am calling anybody
here an Oompa-Loompa, and especially not you, Mr Davies.
At a time when businesses around the country are facing massive
skills shortages, it is vital that careers education matches the
scale of the challenge, and the hon. Member for Workington
understands this. We welcome the Bill. It is short, but its
significance is not dampened by its brevity—if anything, it is
enhanced by it.
For years, both main parties have been gripped by the debate on
structural reforms in schools. Academies were, after all, a
Labour invention spearheaded by and others as a way of turning
around failing schools. We stood against the forced academisation
of large swathes of schools throughout the 2010s, and do not
support universal academisation now, but given the years of
disruption caused by structural reform, our immediate focus now
must be on making sure that all schools deliver top-quality
preparation for life, no matter their governance arrangements.
Many academies have replaced local authority control with
governance by a multi-academy trust that pools expertise and
resources among a group of similar schools. Most of these trusts
are highly effective, but a minority has been marred by
accusations of off-rolling and high executive pay.
All schools, regardless of their governance structure, should
provide excellent careers education. That is the outcome that the
hon. Gentleman’s Bill seeks to deliver. The Labour party will
always welcome steps towards embedding careers education in
schools, and elevating its position and importance, yet only 30%
of schools and colleges have stable careers programmes. That is
not in the interests of pupils, schools, businesses or the whole
economy—a point worth making on Budget day.
Expansion of the legal duty is welcome, but the Government must
go further. Cuts to schools’ budgets have had a real-terms impact
on the ability to provide high-quality careers education. When
budgets are tight, school leaders are forced to prioritise
traditional academic subjects. That is not helped by the
Government’s narrow curriculum reforms over recent years. Where
is the Government’s engagement with business? Where is the
strategic vision? During the Labour conference, the Leader of the
Opposition laid out an ambitious programme to ensure that every
child leaves school job-ready and life-ready. Now is the time for
the Government to meet that ambition for young people. Once
again, I congratulate the hon. Member for Workington.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education ()
It is a real pleasure to serve under your chairmanship in this,
my first Bill Committee as a Minister, Mr Davies. I hope it is
not my last. I must congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for
Workington; he is, as the hon. Member for Hove said, the boy with
the golden ticket. He may remember what happens to the boy who
finds that golden ticket: Charlie goes on to run the chocolate
factory. I can think of no finer job for my hon. Friend. It is a
real achievement to get this Bill into Committee, and we in the
Government are delighted to support it, because it really
supports the aims of our skills reform agenda, which will drive
up the quality and availability of technical skills for young
people, and that will help them to get the great jobs that they
deserve—the great jobs of tomorrow.
I pay tribute to my predecessor, my hon. Friend the Member for
Chichester (), who has gone on to an
even greater job, in the Department of Health. I cannot hope to
match her panache and stylishness, but I promise the House that I
will do my best for this agenda, because it is something I
believe in deeply. I also thank the Opposition for their support
for the Bill and the cross-party consensus that has broken out
over this important agenda. I hope such consensus will continue
throughout the day, as we go on to the Chancellor’s
statement.
The Government support the Bill because we want to level up
opportunity. The reforms set out in our “Skills for Jobs” White
Paper will give people a genuine choice between a high-quality
technical route and a high-quality academic route. As part of
that, it is vital that everyone has access to careers guidance of
the very highest standard.
(Chesterfield) (Lab)
rose—
I am honoured to give way to my opposite number for the first
time.
Mr Perkins
Does the Minister agree that in order to meet the careers
guidance needs of every child, we need to meet every child, and
so every child should be entitled to face-to-face careers
guidance during their career journey?
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his contribution. I know that we
will not always agree as we stand opposite each other, but I know
that he cares deeply about the prospects for young people, and I
hope he respects that I do, too. Obviously, it is important that
young people get high-quality careers advice, and it would be
difficult to justify giving that without a degree of face-to-face
support, but we respect schools’ abilities to find new,
interesting ways of delivering this agenda.
As we emerge from the pandemic, it is important that we make sure
that all young people have access to high-quality guidance,
because if they do not, they will not know whether they are
making the right choices and taking the right opportunities.
(Hastings and Rye)
(Con)
rose—
The Chair
I call .
It is .
The Chair
Oh God. I am sorry.
Does my hon. Friend the Minister agree that the fact that the
Bill has been extended to alternative provision academies matters
a lot, because some of the most vulnerable children from
disadvantaged backgrounds are in alternative provision, and we
really need to get them the same opportunities as all other
children?
I could not have put it better myself. It is very important that
everyone in state education, particularly young people with the
most disadvantaged starts in life, has these opportunities, and
that is what the Bill will achieve. Having at different times of
my career worked closely with those who run alternative
provision, I know, as does my hon. Friend, that they have an
extraordinary job on their hands. The contribution that they make
to young people’s lives is often really remarkable.
Now more than ever, good-quality careers advice, information and
guidance is essential to build a workforce that is dynamic and
flexible. It is critical that young people are provided with
good-quality information about future labour market opportunities
in growth sectors, so that they can learn the skills that they
need to be successful in our fast-paced, changing jobs
market.
Many in-demand jobs and sectors are a product of the modern
world, including space exploration, green energy, digital
architects and data scientists. As new technologies and
industries emerge, young people need insights into the breadth of
careers and opportunities available to them, so that they can
make informed decisions about the future, including, crucially
for my brief, the value of technical and vocational pathways to
employment. Good-quality careers advice is essential if we are to
ensure that we meet the higher technical skills needs in our
country. That is why the Government are investing over £100
million in the financial year 2021-22 in the direct delivery of
careers information, advice and guidance. That funds the direct
delivery of careers advice to people of all ages through the
National Careers Service. We also support the development of
careers infrastructure through the Careers & Enterprise
Company to help schools and colleges to improve their careers
programmes in line with the world-class Gatsby benchmarks. The
Bill will support the Government’s wider skills reforms, and will
provide a legal framework for guaranteeing high-quality,
independent careers guidance to all young people in state
secondary schools.
It takes a wise man to devise a simple Bill, and this is a simple
Bill. Clause 1 amends the scope of section 42A of the Education
Act 1997—the statutory duty on schools to secure independent
careers guidance. The Bill extends career advice provision to all
pupils in state secondary schools, bringing year 7 pupils into
scope for the first time. It also extends the duty to all academy
schools and alternative provision academies. Clause 2 covers
consequential amendments and revokes 2013 regulations that
extended the careers guidance obligations to pupils aged 13 to
18; they are no longer needed, because the Bill extends to all
secondary-age pupils.
What the clauses mean in practice is that all pupils, in all
types of state-funded secondary school in England, will be
legally entitled to independent careers guidance throughout their
secondary education. That means high-quality guidance for every
single child in every single secondary state school in every
single local authority, without exception.
(Clwyd South) (Con)
I would like to put on record my thanks to my hon. Friend the
Member for Workington for bringing the Bill to the House and to
this Committee. I want to clarify a point: page 6 of the
explanatory notes says that the provisions do not extend to
Wales—I speak as a Welsh MP—but where the notes say,
“Would corresponding provision be within the competence of Senedd
Cymru?”,
the answer is “Yes” for both clauses 1 and 2. Has the Minister
had any contact with the Welsh Government to see whether they are
bringing in a similar programme of careers guidance in Wales?
We are in constant contact with our colleagues in Wales, but I am
as yet unaware of whether they have similar plans. I am happy to
write to my hon. Friend if I discover that they do.
By extending the lower age limit to those in year 7, the Bill
brings the career guidance duty in line with the Government’s
careers framework for schools, the Gatsby benchmarks, which apply
from years 7 to 13. This fulfils a commitment in our “Skills for
Jobs” White Paper and will reach over 600,000 pupils in year 7
every year. By starting in year 7, we can give children early
exposure to a range of employers, so that they gain experience of
the workplace, ask questions and develop networks. They can begin
to learn about the local labour market, because the skills needs
of Cumbria may be different from those of Essex. Early careers
guidance can support important decisions that need to be made
from year 14 —for example, on the choice of GCSE subjects or on
whether to go to a university technical college.
The Bill will establish consistency by applying the statutory
careers duty to all types of state-school settings. This will
bring approximately 2,700 academy schools and 130 alternative
provision placements into scope. We support the Bill’s intention
to require all academies via statute to have regard to statutory
careers guidance. That is already the case for maintained
schools. If the Bill is passed, we will make it easy for schools
to understand the changes to the law, and what actions they need
to take. These changes to the law will allow Ofsted to focus
clearly and consistently on how every school is meeting its
statutory duty by providing independent careers guidance to every
pupil throughout their secondary education.
09:45:00
We cannot overestimate how important careers guidance is. The
Bill will help to make sure that every young person in a state
secondary school, whatever their background and wherever they are
in the country, can get on in life. The Bill—an essential element
of our skills reforms—will help every school in every part of the
country to level up. High-quality careers guidance from a young
age that is built around employer engagement and informed by data
on national and local skills needs will inspire and inform young
people in all communities. I thank all Members for the way that
they have engaged with the legislation so far. It is wonderful to
work on legislation for which there is cross-party support.
Again, I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Workington for the
passion and commitment he has shown to this cause, and I commend
the Bill to the Committee.
The Chair
Finally, back to the author: our Roald Dahl, .
May I put on record my thanks to everyone who has contributed to
this short, constructive debate, and to all Members who agreed to
serve on this Committee? I thank all those who contributed more
widely to the small but incredibly important changes in the Bill,
and ask that everyone continues their cross-party support until
we get the Bill over the line.
I thank my local enterprise partnership, careers hub and
education leaders for their input as the Bill took shape. I also
thank my hon. Friend the Member for Castle Point () and the Minister for their
support throughout, and Opposition Members, particularly the hon.
Member for Hove. May I also thank you, Mr Davies, the officials
from the Department, the Hansard writers, and the Clerk, Adam
Mellows-Facer, who has been incredibly supportive throughout the
process? I look forward to Third Reading, hopefully on 14
January.
The Chair
Well done.
Question put and agreed to.
Clause 1 accordingly ordered to stand part of the Bill.
Clauses 2 and 3 ordered to stand part of the Bill.
Bill to be reported, without amendment.
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