Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (Transfer of Functions etc) Bill [Lords] Report Stage: New Clause 1

MPs voted on 31 March 2025 to reject New Clause 1 to the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (Transfer of Functions etc) Bill at Report Stage. The clause, tabled by Liberal Democrat MP Ian Sollom, would have required the Secretary of State to bring forward proposals to establish Skills England as a statutory independent executive agency rather than keeping it under direct ministerial control. The vote fell 168 ayes to 302 noes, defeating the amendment. The practical effect of the vote is that Skills England, which will absorb the functions of the abolished Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education, will operate under the Secretary of State rather than as a free-standing statutory body. Supporters of the clause argued that statutory independence would strengthen accountability to Parliament and protect the integrity of skills standards, particularly for apprenticeships and technical qualifications. The government maintained that operating under ministerial control would allow reform to proceed faster, addressing what ministers and their supporters described as a damaging collapse in apprenticeship starts under the previous administration. The division followed strict party lines. All 300 Labour and Labour-Co-operative MPs who voted backed the government, while all 94 voting Conservatives, all 64 voting Liberal Democrats, four Reform UK MPs, four Democratic Unionist Party MPs, three Green MPs and one Traditional Unionist Voice MP voted for the clause. No Labour MP voted in favour. The vote took place on the same day as two closely related divisions: one on Amendment 6 and one on New Clause 4, both also defeated, which addressed related questions of independence and accountability for the new body.