Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between John Hayes and Jim Dobbin

Monday 16th April 2012 Commons Chamber

[The Minister for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning (Mr John Hayes)]

My hon. Friend is doing a great job in promoting apprenticeships in his constituency, and the whole House will want to celebrate that fact. He is right that small businesses sometimes perceive the risk of taking on apprentices as being greater than larger firms do. We need to make the process much simpler and take out the bureaucracy. We have provided a toolkit and put financial incentives in place, but we will go still further to ensure that in every village and town, every business has the chance to take on an apprentice.

[Jim Dobbin (Heywood and Middleton) (Lab/Co-op)]

T10. It is important, when individuals and groups apply to open a free school, that proper checks on them are made. Can the Secretary of State give me guarantees that those checks are in place?