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Education and Inspections Bill

Perhaps I may deal first with the issue of statutory protection for the use of force within further education colleges. I am glad to say that this is one of the numerous areas where the Liberal Democrats have persuaded us by the force of their arguments that we should amend the Bill. Having reflected on the amendments tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Sharp, we believe that it is appropriate that colleges should have a parallel power to schools in this area. Although we cannot accept the precise amendments she has tabled, as that would create an anomalous reference to further education colleges within a part of the Bill dealing exclusively with school-related matters, government Amendment No. 255A, in my name in this group, broadens the current clause to cover students studying at further education colleges. We are also, with the other amendments standing in my name, introducing into Part 9 a clause to be inserted into the Further and Higher Education Act 1992 which would extend the power to use reasonable force to further education institutions. This clause purposely mirrors the school clause in the Bill, Clause 86, thereby ensuring consistency of approach between schools and colleges. We have consulted institutions within the FE sector and representative bodies to establish the suitability and appropriateness of introducing a statutory power to enable the use of reasonable force in certain circumstances for those working in FE colleges, and all those consulted were in favour of such provision being introduced, particularly given the growing number of pupils of compulsory school age attending FE institutions under arrangements made by their schools—a point made by the noble Baroness, Lady Sharp. I stress, however, that this is an enabling power for colleges to use only if they wish. They will remain free to continue with existing arrangements; for example, using security staff or the police to deal with situations that might give rise to the use of force. I turn to Amendment No. 227, tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Lucas, which seeks to ensure that the department issues guidance on the interpretation of this clause and specifies recording systems and procedures to be used following any such incident. The department's current guidance on the issue of force, in Circular 10/98, provides clear practical examples of situations in which the use of force might be necessary and the degrees of force that should be used. I am happy to send that to the noble Lord to fortify his summer reading. It contains a whole section on types of incidents where it might be appropriate to use force and sets out three broad categories where action is necessary: in self-defence or because there is an imminent risk of injury; where there is a developing risk of injury or significant damage to property; and—this is a crucial third area that relates to one of the concerns that he expressed—where a pupil is behaving in a way that is compromising good order and discipline. It gives a series of examples of where the use of force might well be appropriate in such cases. The guidance also goes on—taking up the point raised by the noble Baroness, Lady Sharp—to define reasonable force. It begins by accepting that there is no single accepted legal definition of reasonable force, but it sets out two relevant considerations: that the use of force can be regarded as reasonable only if the circumstances of the particular incident warrant it; and that the degree of force employed must be in proportion to the circumstances of the incident and the seriousness of the behaviour or the consequences it is intended to prevent. Any force used should always be the minimum needed to achieve the desired results. The guidance then gives a set of practical considerations that should be taken into account and examples of the application of force and what would be appropriate. I hope that that meets the concerns raised by the noble Baroness. The noble Lord, Lord Lucas, raises in his amendment the important issue of recording systems. It is important that we do not overburden staff by requiring them to record very minor or even trivial issues which may happen from time to time—for example, in early-years settings. However, there obviously needs to be proper recording of significant incidents and we will address that issue in revising the guidance, to which I referred, that we send to schools. Amendment No. 234, in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Sharp, provides that school staff will be able to use force only after having received appropriate training. School staff already have a statutory power to use reasonable force. Clause 86 re-enacts the current legislation with minor amendments, and I have already referred to the guidance we have in place in respect of it. We are not aware that this essential legislation has caused problems over the past eight years in which it has been in effect. Therefore, we believe that it would be disproportionate and impractical to require every school to give every member of staff who hasany responsibility for supervising pupils specialised training in physical intervention. We believe that head teachers and governors are in the best position to make professional judgments on the training needs of school staff, and schools are already well used to managing staff training. Amendment No. 238, which also stands in the name of the noble Baroness, would statutorily define ““force”” as meaning restrictive physical intervention. Clause 86 stipulates that force must be used only as ““reasonable in the circumstances””. This makes clear the expectation that staff will use only such forceas is reasonable, which means that it must be proportionate, taking account of the child’s individual needs. We are absolutely clear, and the guidance I cited a moment ago also states, that ““reasonable in the circumstances”” means that the force used should be the minimum required in both type and degree to achieve the objectives specified by the legislation.