Support for participation in education and training
858.Part 1 of the Education and Skills Act 2008 places a duty on young people to participate in education or training until the age of 18 (or until attaining a level 3 qualification if earlier) and requires local education authorities to promote the effective participation of young people in their areas who are subject to the duty to participate. That Act also provides for local education authorities in England to establish support services for people aged 14 to 19, and those aged up to 24 who have learning difficulties. These services are known as Connexions services provided by local education authorities themselves or contractors.
859.Sections 15 and 76 of the Education and Skills Act 2008 provide for limited social security information to be provided to local education authorities, and Connexions service providers, respectively for the purposes of functions under Part 1 of that Act or Connexions services.
860.Section 17 of that Act enables information held by LEAs and by Connexions service providers to be supplied and used either for purposes under Part 1 of that Act or for Connexions services purposes.
861.Sections 254 and 255 amend provisions of that Act about the holding and supply of information for the purposes of Part 1 of that Act or for Connexions services purposes.
Section 254: Provision of social security information for purposes of functions under Education and Skills Act 2008
862.Subsection (2) of section 254 omits section 15 of the Education and Skills Act 2008 so that social security information may no be longer supplied directly to an LEA for Part 1 purposes. Social security could still be provided by a Connexions service provider to a local education authority where that is permitted under section 76 of that Act.
863.The Government intends that information that can be shared by a LEA and its Connexions service provider under section 17 of the Education and Skills Act 2008 will be held on a database operated by the authority or service provider. Subsection (4) amends section 17(1) to make clear that this is permitted. The database for each area will be known as “the Client Caseload Information System” (CCIS).
864.Subsection (5) excludes, from the category of information that can be shared under section 17, information that was supplied to a Connexions service provider under section 72 of the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999 (which relates to 16/17 year old benefit claimants).
865.Subsection (6) amends section 17 to make it clear that the ability to share information under that section does not displace any statutory prohibition on disclosing the information.
866.At present, section 76 of the Education and Skills Act 2008 allows the Secretary of State (here the Department for Work and Pensions) or a contractor of that department, to provide limited social security information to a Connexions service provider for use for Connexions purposes. Subsection (9) amends section 76 to allow the information to be provided instead to the Secretary of State (here the Department for Children, Schools and Families) or a contractor of that department (inserted subsection (3B) of section 76) for onward transmission to Connexions service providers. Inserted subsection (3A) confers the necessary power on the Secretary of State (here the Department for Children, Schools and Families) to make arrangements for the transmission of information in this way.
867.Inserted subsections (3B) to (3E) set out the circumstances in which information that originated with the Department for Work and Pensions or a contractor of that department and is supplied under section 76 may be disclosed. These include enabling or assisting the exercise of any function of a LEA under Part 1. Subsections (4) and (4A) also create an offence which prevents this information being provided for any other purpose, and replaces the offence for which section 76 already provides.
Section 255: Provision of other information in connection with support services
868.The Department for Children, Schools and Families will make arrangements with a contractor to collect and hold relevant Connexions service information and supply it to those involved in the provision of Connexions services to assist in the provision of those services. This will involve a database known as the National Client Caseload Information System (NCCIS). The NCCIS will enable a Connexions service provider to find out whether a person for whom the service provider has been providing support has moved to a different area.
869.Subsection (3) of section 255 inserts a new 76A into the Education and Skills Act 2008, subsection (1) of which enables the Secretary of State to make these arrangements. Subsection (3) of the new section allows local Connexions service providers to provide information to the contractor operating the NCCIS. This information is information obtained by a Connexions service provider about a person for whom services are provided but excludes information provided under section 72 of the Welfare Reform and Pension Act 1999. Subsections (4) to (6) of the new section contain restrictions on the disclosure of information held on the NCCIS.
870.Subsection (1) allows the Secretary of State to ensure that information is provided by local Connexions service providers to the NCCIS. It does this by amending section 69 of the Education and Skills Act 2008 to allow the Secretary of State to give directions to a LEA about the terms of the arrangements that it makes for the provision of local Connexions services.
