Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that Skills England is subject to parliamentary scrutiny.

As an Executive Agency, Skills England will be subject to clear requirements on governance, transparency and accountability as set out by the Cabinet Office and applying across government.

A sponsor Minister within the department will be accountable to Parliament on all matters concerning Skills England, including the policy framework within which it operates, ensuring it meets its strategic objectives and, in doing so, delivers value for money.

Skills England will be led by a Chief Executive, who will be directly accountable to a relevant departmental sponsor Minister for delivery and day to day activities. They will also be accountable to the sponsor department’s Permanent Secretary for responsible use of public funds, via formal designation as Accounting Officer for the agency.

A framework document will be agreed between the department and Skills England, which will be approved by HM Treasury. This will set out the governance and accountability framework within which Skills England and the department will operate and will be publicly available.

In line with other Executive Agencies, and as set out in the Public Bodies Handbook, Skills England will regularly publish information on the execution of its functions. This will include an annual report, which sponsor ministers are required to publish to ensure Parliament is kept informed of Skills England’s activities.

The IfATE (Transfer of Functions etc) Bill also requires my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, to publish and lay before Parliament, within six months after the closure of IfATE, a report setting out which of the functions in this Bill are being exercised by Skills England and the impact of this on apprenticeships and technical education in England.