Academies Bill [HL]

My Lords, I will speak to my Amendment 61 on participation in collective worship and religious education, and in doing so declare an interest as a humanist and a vegetarian—so I do not do sausages. I shall comment in passing on the concerns of the noble Lord, Lord Lucas, and will also speak to my Amendment 133 on the status of state-maintained schools if they become academies. I recognise that Amendments 134 and 135, which were tabled by Members on the Benches opposite, relate to the same matter, so I will not spend too long on them. I also wish to comment on Amendment 12, which was moved by the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Lincoln. On Amendment 61, the noble Lord, Lord Lucas, wants the precepts of all major religions in the UK to be taught. I agree that collective worship and RE should be balanced and broad. This education should also include the precepts of humanism and secularism. Sixty-five per cent of 12 to 19 year-olds, according to surveys, are not religious. All children need to learn about non-religious as well as religious beliefs, as we live in a diverse society. As I said, I am a humanist, and I know that humanism has moral and ethical precepts and a compassionate culture. I respect those from other cultures and other religions, and I hope that they will respect mine. Will the Minister confirm that it is the Government’s view that schools, including academies, should teach non-religious world views as well as religious ones? Will he also confirm that the recent spiritual, moral and cultural non-statutory guidance for independent schools, which was worked on by a wide range of stakeholders, will also apply to independent religious academies? Will previous government guidance that creationism and intelligent design should not be taught in science lessons apply to academies? I realise that I am asking a lot of questions, and I will be happy to receive more detailed answers in writing, but perhaps the Minister has some quick responses. All state-maintained schools are required to hold a daily act of collective worship and provide religious education. We all know, of course, that many schools approach this with a broad perspective and provide a forum for moral perspectives that are not necessarily religious. At maintained schools, parents are legally entitled to withdraw their children from collective worship and religious education, while sixth-form students can withdraw themselves from collective worship. It is not clear whether these rights of withdrawal will extend to the new academies. Will these current rights be retained? I will say a brief word on my Amendment 133 to leave out subsections (7) and (8) on page 4, lines 14 to 19. This amendment would remove from the Bill a new provision that automatically converts state-maintained schools with a religious character into an independent school with the same religious character once an academy order has taken effect. However, there is no guarantee that community schools becoming academies will automatically become secular and inclusive. This new provision would remove choice and freedom from schools and their governing bodies. It would permanently remove the possibility for state-funded religious schools to become inclusive academies and they would not be permitted to return to maintained school status. That would have a profound effect on primary schools. Around one-third of all state-funded schools are faith schools and the majority are primary schools. This Bill will permit high-performing primary schools to become state-funded religious academies. In my view, that would be a disastrous move, placing many state-funded schools into a largely unregulated sector with no public consultation and no entitlement for children to the national curriculum. Amendment 12 is tabled by the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Lincoln. During the course of this Bill, the right reverend Prelate has talked a lot of sense, but I cannot agree with him on a number of the amendments that he has proposed. They simply seek to increase the power and control of religious groups running the new academies, which I do not think is in the best interests of children or parents. There is no guaranteed protection against unsound principles being taught. The amount of money paid by the public purse to religious schools will be increased, even though the majority of the public do not support the idea of state-funded faith schools. Do we really want—