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Education and Inspections Bill

My Lords, I accept that the noble Baroness does not, but I think that there is broad support from other parts of the House. My noble friends Lady Massey and Lady Turner would like to go further still and abolish collective worship altogether, putting in its place a new requirement to take part in an assembly to further pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural education with no requirement, as now, for that education to be wholly or mainly of a broadly Christian character. I deeply respect the views of my noble friends, and I know that other Members of the House share them, but the Government do not feel able to support those further amendments. Assemblies and collective worship are important elements of school life in establishing their ethos and collective character. For those under 16, we believe it right that they should be required to take part unless their parents specifically wish otherwise; and it is in accordance with the values and traditions of the majority in this country—although I accept not by any means all—that such collective worship should be of a broadly Christian character, allowing also for the proper celebration of other faiths as appropriate. Section 394 of the Education Act 1996 allows community schools and foundation schools without a religious character to lift the broadly Christian requirements for some or all pupils when the local standing advisory council on religious education judges it appropriate to do so, having received an application from the head teacher. Before making such an application, the head teacher must consult the governing body, which in turn may want to seek the views of the parents. We believe this strikes the right balance, and we do not intend to propose any further changes. In his Amendment No. 9, the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Portsmouth proposes that school improvement partners play a role in assisting the governing body to prepare and develop the religious character of a faith school. We see an important role for the external validation and monitoring of the faith aspect of a faith school’s work—a point made by the noble Lords, Lord Dearing and Lord Sutherland. That is precisely why we have Section 48 inspections, which focus on this aspect of the work of faith schools and for which largely the Government pay. I pay tribute in this respect to the Catholic Church, which recently announced that its Section 48 inspections will pay particular attention to the community outreach and engagement of their schools, in the way that the noble Lord, Lord Alton, described. I believe the Church of England is minded to do the same. We think that the Section 48 inspections are the right way in which to monitor this work, whereas the role of school improvement partners is distinctly different—it is to monitor standards. That said, we expect school improvement partners, as well as local authorities, to be responsive to the individual character, including the religious character, of schools with which they work. On staffing, government Amendments Nos. 54, 146 and 149 follow the constructive dialogue that we have had with faith communities. First, they allow the head teacher of a religious foundation or voluntary controlled school in England and Wales to be a reserved teacher, appointed specifically to guide religious education in accordance with the tenets of the school’s specified religion. Almost all voluntary-controlled schools are Church of England schools, and we agree with the Church of England that it should not be necessary for a voluntary-controlled school or a foundation school to convert to voluntary-aided status simply to ensure that its head teacher is appointed with a view to promoting the ethos of the school. We have therefore tabled these amendments, which have their genesis with the Church of England. Secondly, the amendments allow voluntary-aided faith schools in England to make a case for extending the faith requirement to the appointment of any employee who is not a teacher, where there is a genuine occupational requirement. This, again, is a beneficial flexibility to reflect the changes brought about by workforce reform, particularly the much wider use of support staff in schools. It would be perverse if faith schools were discouraged from appointing pastoral assistants rather than fully qualified teachers, for example, simply because they cannot extend the existing power in respect of a faith commitment for that particular post. On ““Lord Baker’s amendment””, as it will for evermore be known, let me first reaffirm the Government’s commitment to support faith schools when they provide good-quality education and are desired by parents, as they so widely are; we have had many testaments to that from all sides of the House this evening. We pay tribute to the immense contribution that the faith communities make to our education system and to supporting members of their own faith in developing their talents to the full, and through education instilling a proper sense of citizenship and social responsibility. The issue is community cohesion. A whole host of factors—not least the existence of good schools, including good faith schools, which serve communities that have had to put up with weak or failing schools for too long—contribute to community cohesion. A large proportion of faith schools are highly rated for both their academic and their pastoral standards, and are absolutely community-minded. Admissions arrangements are, however, one obvious factor that governs the relationship between a school and the communities that it serves, and it is right that Government and Parliament should consider the issue, as we have been doing this evening, given the current and absolutely legitimate concern about community cohesion. In doing so, we follow the Church of England, which made a significant policy statement last month. In response to clear parental demand and following one of many reports by the noble Lord, Lord Dearing, the Church of England is seeking to increase the number of its schools in areas where there are few or none at present, particularly at secondary level. In doing so, the Church of England has announced that all new C of E schools will offer at least 25 per cent of places on the basis of local preference, not faith preference alone. The Government warmly welcome this policy. The amendment of the noble Lord, Lord Baker, would extend on a mandatory national basis this25 per cent requirement to all new faith schools. My right honourable friend the Secretary of State has considered this proposal very carefully, and I am in a position to say that, subject to our judging there to be a sufficient consensus for such a move, the Government will bring forward an amendment on Third Reading along the following lines. We do not believe it right for there to be a mandatory national25 per cent requirement in respect of all new faith schools. However, we wish to give local authorities, in their role as guardians of community cohesion, a power to require that new faith schools have admissions policies which include the offer of at least 25 per cent of places on the basis of local preference, not faith preference alone. We also wish to confer a reserve power on the Secretary of State—a power, not a duty—to act in this matter where a local authority’s decisions give rise to a sufficient body of local objections to oblige him to consider the issue. We intend to consult on the precise way in which these provisions will be framed. I hope that this will be taken as a significant move by my right honourable friend and the Government to meet the concerns which have given rise to the noble Lord’s amendment. But let me make clear four points which I know are of concern within the faith communities, and which have been set out eloquently by the noble Lord, Lord Alton, and others, in the debate. First, there is no question whatever of places being left unfilled where there is parental demand for them. The requirement would simply be to offer a proportion of places according to local preference, as opposed to faith preference. If these places are not taken up, and if there are faith-preference applicants who wish to take them, they will of course be welcome to do so. Equally, there will be no obligation on anyone to apply to or attend a faith school. There will be no quotas and there will be no bussing. Secondly, there is no question of requiring this admission arrangement in respect of existing faith schools where it does not already apply. However, I should stress that it applies in a very large number of faith schools at the moment; that is the answer to the points raised about practicability. This will remain a matter for the faith communities and their schools to determine. I give a categoric assurance on behalf of the Government that this is not the thin end of a wedge which would affect existing faith schools and faith communities against their wishes. Only brand new schools offering additional places will be affected. Thirdly, in response to the noble Baroness, Lady Richardson—and I pay tribute to the work of Methodist schools as well as other faith schools—the Government have no intention of obliging faith schools to insist that a certain proportion of pupils profess the faith. Many existing faith schools—including Methodist schools, I believe—do not, and there is no obligation on new faith schools at present to have faith-based oversubscription criteria. Indeed, a large number of new faith schools have no faith-based oversubscription criteria whatever now, including new schools currently being established. Fourthly, local discretion will be for real. If a local authority receives a proposal for a school where more than 75 per cent of admissions would be based on a faith criterion, and it believes that this would be consistent with community cohesion and wishes to approve the new school to open on that basis, the Secretary of State would exercise his reserve power only where he had well founded concerns about such a policy in respect of the individual school and community in question. Equally—this is in response to the point raised by the noble Baroness, Lady Walmsley—any admissions requirements would hold for only as long as the local authority wished them to do so. The local authority could of course change its view over time. I hope that the policy I have set out is able to secure a reasonable consensus across the House. My right honourable friend and I will continue to discuss it with noble Lords individually, the two opposition parties and the faith communities before we table a precise amendment. I hope that on that basis the noble Lord, Lord Baker, will not feel that he needs to press his amendment.