Academies Bill [Lords]

This Bill is about academies, and we have made it clear in the amendment that we want to make PSHE mandatory in academies. The position taken by my party is that we believe that PSHE should be mandatory in all schools—academies and non-academies. We want to put PSHE on a formal footing to send out a clear message in academies about how important the subject is and how important it is to develop it as a professional subject and to train more teachers in it. Many schools already provide very good PSHE, including some academies, but more can still be done to improve its teaching. Hon. Members will know that in the previous Parliament the Labour Government attempted to legislate in the Children, Schools and Families Bill to make PSHE compulsory for all pupils in all schools, including, importantly in this case, academies. The key principles that we set out in that Bill were to make the teaching of PSHE promote equality, encourage the acceptance of diversity, and emphasise rights and responsibilities and the need to reflect on contrasting attitudes within society—in other words, to give children and young people the opportunity truly to develop their life skills. At that stage, the Liberal Democrat coalition partners fully supported the Labour Government's policy of making PSHE compulsory for all pupils, including those in academies. It will be interesting to see tonight whether the Liberal Democrats now differ in their position. Young people and parents both tell us that they want PSHE taught in schools. A National Children's Bureau report showed that children wanted to be able to talk about issues important in their lives, such as emotions, relationships, mental health, sexual health and so on. In a popular survey, 81% of parents agreed that every child should have sex and relationship education as part of the curriculum, and in a survey by Parentline Plus, 97% of parents said that they wanted drug and alcohol education to be delivered in schools. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence recently recommended that all primary schools should teach PSHE. Parents say that they do not always have the knowledge, skills or confidence to engage their youngsters in discussion on the sensitive matters of sex and relationships and drugs. Of course, the Liberal Democrats may wish to reflect on the fact that people can often get themselves into undesirable relationships if they have not had the opportunity to really think things through and consider all their options. We know that PSHE fosters self-esteem and builds confidence, which we always want to encourage in our young people. In 2009, Sir Alasdair Macdonald held a review of the then Labour Government's proposals to make PSHE a statutory foundation subject. He made it clear that PSHE was important because of the"““unique body of knowledge, understanding and skills””" that it brings our young people. Our amendment 26 would make the provision of PSHE mandatory in academies, but we still also take the view that we want academies to have good, open communication with parents on the issue of PSHE, and that each individual school and academy should develop sex and relationships policies.