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Education and Inspections Bill

I thank the Minister for his response and all noble Lords for their comments. Why do we single out these victims of bullying? We do so because there is currently no corresponding framework of legislation, such as the Disability Discrimination Act or the Act on racial discrimination. Therefore, we felt that these victims of bullying required a little more help through an emphasis on their protection in legislation. The legislation that I mentioned has been successful in completely changing attitudes in society, and we would like to see the same sort of change relating to those who find themselves the victims of homophobia. Why did we not address the issue as a whole and why did we pick out this kind of bullying? We did so because, as the Minister said, Clause 82 does it for us—it talks about bullying as a whole. We picked out these particular victims of bullying because of the need to make a positive statement about the approach that a good school will take to all pupils and because of the widespread nature of the problem and the lack of a legislative framework until now. I am sure that if the amendment were agreed to, it would not make the problem worse. These things must be brought out into the open. Schools need to talk about them and to ask how they will approach such situations, making a positive statement. However, I was very pleased to hear what the Minister said about the consultation and the fact that the guidance will come out early next year—not before time. I know that the Minister is consulting many people who have a great deal of expertise and constructive thinking to offer in this field. But, if we had not pressed this matter, and if some of the organisations that are about to offer the noble Lord their wisdom had not pushed it, we might not have got as far as we have done in respect of the guidance to which the Minister referred.