Education, Lifelong Learning and Culture Committee

Meeting date: Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Official Report 507KB pdf

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Education Bill

Agenda item 5 is consideration of a legislative consent memorandum from the UK Government on its Education Bill. The LCM relates to the proposed abolition of the Young People’s Learning Agency in clause 62 of the bill.

The minister has remained with us and the only new official who has joined us is Clare Morley from the Scottish Government. I invite the minister to speak to the LCM.

I have lodged a legislative consent motion in relation to a minor aspect of the current UK Education Bill that extends to Scotland.

The bill abolishes the Young People’s Learning Agency, the main functions of which extend to England only. However, its enabling legislation, which the Education Bill will repeal, provides that Scottish ministers can make arrangements with the Young People’s Learning Agency for the provision of services in relation to education or training, or can agree to the agency taking part in relevant arrangements in Scotland. Those are unexercised functions and, given the forthcoming abolition of the Young People’s Learning Agency, there will not be an option to use them in the future. It is in the interests of clear legislation to remove reference to those functions from the statute book. Because they are devolved powers, legislative consent is required under the Sewel convention.

There is no suitable Scottish legislative instrument to make the changes and, given their minor, technical nature, separate legislation would be disproportionate. The LCM route is therefore the appropriate legislative approach to the matter.

Thank you, minister. As committee members have no questions for the minister, that concludes our evidence taking on the LCM.

Agenda item 6 is our formal consideration of the LCM, on which the committee is required to report to the Parliament. Such a report would usually include any comments on the merits of the policy, justification for the use of the LCM mechanism, comments on the draft motion and a clear recommendation to the Parliament on whether consent should be given. However, the committee need not make such a recommendation if it so decides.

As members have no points that they wish to make in the committee’s report to the Parliament, I express my gratitude to the witnesses for their attendance and I suspend the meeting to allow them to leave.

10:34 Meeting suspended.

10:34 On resuming—