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Children, Schools and Families Bill

My Lords, this Bill deserves a warm welcome—as does the White Paper on which it was based, which was welcomed at the time. Many clauses embrace and improve the statutory framework within which LEAs and schools operate and which, when implemented, will lead to better education for the children of this country. All my comments relate to Part 1 of the Bill rather than Part 2, on which I have too little expertise to comment. I am delighted that Sir Jim Rose's excellent report on the primary curriculum is reflected in the Bill, with appropriate provisions for reform. I am equally pleased that the Macdonald review’s recommendations on personal, social, health and economic education are provided for, making it a foundation subject at key stages 3 and 4, as well as an area of learning at key stages 1 and 2 in primary schools. However, much of what I will say later focuses on a concession made in another place that in my view damages these commitments. The Bill's introduction of a registration scheme for home education, following Graham Badman’s report, and the clauses dealing with alternative provision following Alan Steer’s report, also seem eminently sensible, if a little overdue. Lastly, it provides for special educational needs courses, recommended in the report of Brian Lamb of the RNID. I congratulate the Government on setting up this series of independent inquiries by eminent experts, on accepting the arguments for reform and on bringing forward a Bill to implement them. It is a useful model for future legislation, perhaps not just in the education sector. I am surprised by the comments of the noble Baroness, Lady Verma, given that so much of what lies behind the Bill comes from independent experts who have studied many of the issues in great depth. Finally in welcoming the Bill, I strongly support the clauses that seek to increase the involvement of parents. Again, I say to the noble Baroness, Lady Verma, that I am sure she would agree that if the poor standards that she wants to see addressed are to be addressed, we must involve parents more. A successful educational system must take parents seriously, work in partnership with them and engage them in all sorts of ways. Entitlements for pupils and parents are a start, but pupil guarantees and parent guarantees with mandatory force, applying to head teachers, governors, LEAs and other providers, are a huge and important step towards taking parents seriously and taking further what has already happened. I also welcome the decision in Clause 4 to allow for some personalisation of home-school agreements, although I am perplexed about how this will work in practice without creating enormous amounts of extra work for teachers. Perhaps the Minister will elaborate on this when she winds up. Lastly, the surveys seeking parents' views and testing their levels of satisfaction are also to be welcomed. It is important that they should be undertaken with a high level of professionalism if they are going to be both valid and reliable, and the response rates will need to be high. I welcome the decision to enforce the publication of the results of these surveys, and to seek plans from local authorities to deal with any dissatisfaction expressed in them. It is a valuable way of testing parents’ views, giving them a say and then getting a proper response from the LEAs and others to what they have said. I turn now to the issue of PSHE, which includes sex and relationship education, becoming a mandatory subject, as set out in Clause 11. I was very glad to hear the right reverend Prelate supporting these provisions. As a parent and a grandparent, as well as someone with a long-standing interest in children and young people and their education, I believe that this is a huge step forward. As the noble Baroness, Lady Howarth, said, many organisations have called for this for many years, as have teachers, parents and young people themselves. There is now substantial research literature which demonstrates the value of teaching in these areas. There is also a great deal of research evidence on the value of sex and relationship education. The pressures on young people through misleading messages about sex in the media have undoubtedly worsened. They need to learn how to resist unwanted advances, how to go for help when they need it, and who to talk to. They need to be clear about what is and is not appropriate behaviour and to be encouraged to be critical of those who overstep the boundaries. Sexually transmitted infections have become a greater risk; and there are still far too many teenage pregnancies, as I am sure noble Lords will agree. Both are reduced, according to the research, by good teaching in sex and relationship education. The Bill introduces compulsory teaching of SRE that is accurate, balanced, appropriate to the age, religion and cultural backgrounds of pupils, and that is done in ways that provide equality, encourage acceptance of diversity, and emphasise rights and responsibilities. All these were all examined in the pre-legislative scrutiny by the Joint Committee on Human Rights. Its report described the provision and the removal of the parental right to withdraw children over the age of 15 as, ""significant human rights enhancing measures"," and as having a, ""foundation in human rights law"." Its report also said that the Bill does not prevent faith schools from teaching the tenets of their faith as long as they do not present those views as the only valid ones and that they promote equality and diversity in the way that they teach. Why, then, did the Government amend the Bill so that, while religious schools are still required to teach SRE, they may teach it in ways that reflect the religious character of the school? I fear that this is an opt-out clause which will in practice exempt them from having to teach SRE in the way that all other maintained schools must teach it. The Bill is now drafted in such a way that the right of religious schools to teach SRE in ways that reflect their religion overrides the human rights-based principles that the Bill had otherwise embraced. The real danger is that faith schools will teach the subject in a narrower and more subjective way. For example, contraception, safe sex or different sexualities may not be addressed in an accurate and open-minded way. As a result, some children will not benefit from the comprehensive and objective teaching that others will get. I am sorry not to be able to support the Government wholeheartedly in all aspects of the Bill, as I should like to have done. It seems to me that the Government had it right when they introduced the Bill in another place, and that this amendment has damaged what is an otherwise thoughtful and progressive measure. I anticipate that the Minister may argue that the amendment merely clarifies the position of religious schools. I do not think that is a legitimate interpretation, because the amendment clearly overrides what has gone before and the specifications about reflecting a range of perspectives, encouraging the acceptance of diversity and so on. I should perhaps end by apologising to the House for going into such detail at Second Reading. I do so only because I fear that time will run out because of the election and that the Bill will not proceed to Committee; but the Government still have time to think again.