Policy background
This Act forms part of the Government’s wider reforms to Post-16 education and skills and provides further legislative underpinnings required to deliver the 2024 manifesto commitment to establish Skills England, a new Arm’s Length Body of the Department for Education (DfE).
	It is the Government’s intention that Skills England will be an Executive Agency of the DfE, which will bring together existing functions, including statutory functions currently held by IfATE, into a single organisation. This Act enables this by:
Transferring functions from IfATE to the Secretary of State.
Amending some of these functions as they are transferred by:
Providing the option for each standard and apprenticeship assessment plan to be prepared by the Secretary of State rather than by a ‘group of persons’ (such as a group of key employers), where this is deemed necessary or appropriate, and does not risk undermining quality. In such circumstances, the Secretary of State will have a duty to provide information about the matters they have taken into account when deciding that it would be more appropriate not to use a ‘group of persons’.
Providing the option for each standard and apprenticeship assessment plan to be approved without the Secretary of State making arrangements for the carrying out of an examination by an independent third party, where this is deemed necessary or appropriate and does not risk undermining quality, for example where a profession is regulated, and the apprenticeship assessment plan simply sets out that regulator’s requirements.
Removing the duty to review, at regular and published intervals, technical education qualifications, standards and apprenticeship assessment plans. This will enable technical education qualifications, standards and apprenticeship assessment plans to continue being reviewed according to priorities and employers' needs.
Allowing the Secretary of State to grant an exception which allows Ofqual – which regulates qualifications, examinations and assessments in England – to determine whether to exercise its accreditation power for technical qualifications in England (as it can for other types of qualifications).
Repealing statutory functions for the purpose of abolishing IfATE.
Making transitional arrangements to ensure continuity of approved qualifications and standards, and for the transfer of functions from IfATE to the DfE by:
Creating a power to make one or more transfer schemes to transition assets, liabilities and contracts from IfATE to DfE.
Creating a power to make consequential amendments to other legislation which are required because of the terms of this Act, for instance, removing references to IfATE or replacing references to IfATE with the Secretary of State.