Member

Clauses 4 and 5 give the Secretary of State extra powers in relation first to preparing apprenticeship standards and secondly to apprenticeship assessment plans beyond those hitherto exercised by IfATE, allowing the Secretary of State to do so herself—I never know whether to use “herself”, as we talk about the current Secretary of State, but I have noticed references to “them”, which I find deeply upsetting. Typically, such a group of persons would have been made up of employers. They are therefore understandably concerned about whether this role will be diluted.