Baroness Barran (Con)

My Lords, I shall speak to my Amendments 75 and 76. Amendment 75 is a probing amendment to ensure that the Government have considered and made an assessment of how the provisions of the Bill will impact on the ability of students on bursaries to access universities. Despite the picture that the Government are trying to paint, private schools provide genuine benefits to their local areas and offer education at a significantly reduced rate to families, including low-income families, through their bursary schemes. We also know that pupils from independent schools are more likely to go to university. If, as was discussed in earlier groups today, these schools cannot find enough money to provide bursaries, or not in the same quantities as before, these students will no longer be able to access the same opportunities. With this in mind, I hope the Minister can reassure me that the Government have thought about this and perhaps give the Committee his assessment of its impact. Amendment 76 would delay the implementation of Clause 5 until 2026 to allow schools time to prepare properly. Despite this not causing a large fiscal impact on schools, they are facing a number of changes and have not being given time to adapt and readjust their budgets—most notably, of course, in relation to VAT—and this is having a real and very negative impact on the ground. As we have heard in Committee this afternoon and as the Minister knows, some schools have already closed as a result of the very abrupt imposition of VAT in the middle of the school year. The amounts in this section of the Bill will make very little difference to the Government and there is no real reason to implement immediately. Rather, it would show some good will on the part of the Government to give schools time to prepare. Turning to Amendment 74 in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Thurlow, although we are not supporting this specific amendment, I agree with him that what is lacking from the Bill is any firm indication or clarity about what its impact will be. My understanding, and perhaps the Minister can confirm this, is that the Government will not decide the multipliers until after the spending review, although I think the noble Lord, Lord Thurlow, suggested that it might be earlier. Therefore, as we have discussed throughout Committee, not having published an impact assessment is a failure on the part of the Government. I agree with the noble Lord that not enough is known about the impact that the Bill will have on our economy and, crucially, on our high streets.