Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning

<p>The Bill introduces a wide range of measures covering apprenticeships, learning and skills and educational provision.</p><p>Key areas</p><ul><li>Provides for a statutory framework for apprenticeships and creates a right to an apprenticeship for suitably qualified 16-18 year olds </li><li>Introduces a right for employees to request time away from their duties to undertake training, and places a corresponding duty on employers to consider such requests seriously and to be able to refuse them only for specified business reasons </li><li>Dissolves the Learning and Skills Council </li><li>Transfers the responsibility for funding education and training for 16-18-year-olds to local authorities </li><li>Makes provisions with respect to the education of offenders </li><li>Creates the Young Person&rsquo;s Learning Agency, the Skills Funding Agency, a new regulatory body for qualifications (Ofqual), and a new agency to carry out the non-regulatory functions currently performed by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority </li><li>Strengthens the accountability of children&rsquo;s services</li><li>Amends intervention powers in respect of schools which are causing concern </li><li>Establishes a new parental complaints service</li><li>Changes the school inspection arrangements </li><li>Creates a new negotiating body for pay and conditions for school support staff </li><li>Makes provisions in respect of pupil and student behaviour. </li></ul><p> </p>