ATL comments on Children, Skills and Learning Bill and Child Poverty Bill

03 December 2008

Much of what is in the Government's new children and education bills is worthwhile says the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL).

Dr Mary Bousted, ATL general secretary, said: "We support the Government's child poverty bill as eradicating poverty is the most important step to improving educational attainment and young people's lives, health and welfare. The difficulty will be in finding the funds to pay for this – particularly in the current economic climate.

"We are particularly pleased to see plans to improve education for child offenders.

"We are delighted the Government has finally recognised that local authorities are best placed to ensure local accountability and provide efficient, effective and co-ordinated services and education provision for children. Ensuring education and other services are integrated and joined up at local level is key.

"Strengthening Children's Trusts is a very positive move and we applaud the Government for giving them more powers.

"But setting up expensive new agencies, such as Ofqual, to regulate new exams is not the way to improve education standards. We already have far too many exams and this creates problems regulating their operation and delivery.

"We are also dubious about replacing one quango, the Learning and Skills Council, with two, the Young People's Learning Agency and a new Skills Funding Body, particularly as this will separate training for adults from that for young people. We are unconvinced DIUS is best placed to determine what skills adults need at a time when more people are likely to need retraining as unemployment rises."

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