Education Bill

My Lords, let me start by talking about supporting pupils to participate appropriately in the exclusion process. I very much agree that that is important. The guidance on exclusions, which I have circulated, makes clear our view that pupils should be actively supported to participate at all stages of the process. In strengthening this aspect of the guidance we sought the views of the Children’s Rights Alliance for England. In response to its suggestions, the guidance now sets out: first, that head teachers should take steps to allow a pupil to present his case before an exclusion decision is made and take account of significant contributory factors, such as bereavement or bullying, that come to light after an incident of poor behaviour; secondly, that consideration should be given to how to enable and encourage the excluded pupil to participate in governing body reviews and independent review panels; and, thirdly, that independent review panels should be conducted in a non-threatening and non-adversarial manner. I am happy to discuss this draft guidance with my noble friend Lady Walmsley and will consider any suggestions that she may have. I also agree with her point that schools should be able to agree with a parent clear measures to address poor behaviour when a pupil returns to school following exclusion. She talked about parenting orders and contracts. In fact, schools do have the power to agree a parenting contract or to apply for a parenting order, so I hope she will feel reassured that that is possible as things stand. The noble Baroness, Lady Jones, raised the question of how the new exclusions process will be applied to academies. I can reassure noble Lords that the requirements will be the same on all state-funded schools, including academies and free schools. We have already updated academy funding agreements to reflect the changes proposed in the Bill, but the Bill also allows us to apply requirements that are placed on maintained schools equally on academies through regulations. I hope that that reassures the noble Baroness. As for training, which is an important issue, if a parent requests an independent review of an exclusion decision it is important that independent review panel members have the capacity to perform their role effectively. As is currently the case, local authorities and academies will be required to provide training to panel members every two years on specific areas set out in regulations. No individual will be permitted to be a panel member without receiving this training, which must cover issues such as the legislative requirements in relation to exclusions; the need for the panel to observe procedural fairness and the rules of natural justice; and the duties of the review panel under the Equality Act 2010. I understand the point made by my noble friend about the quality of training that some local authorities may provide or commission, but I am not sure that we would want to introduce a requirement for independence which would prevent a local authority which can deliver high-quality training itself from doing so. We want to draw on best practice in training for other bodies that make important administrative decisions. To that end, we are talking to the Ministry of Justice about what more we can do to support this training to ensure that local authorities are clear about the new requirements and are able to develop or commission effective training. My noble friend Lady Walmsley highlighted the importance of the independent review panel understanding the role of the First-tier Tribunal. I agree with her that that is important. I would not, however, wish to constrain the ability of the IRP to hear a case that a parent has chosen to bring to it. When a parent has requested a review from an independent review panel it is right and appropriate that it should be required to consider every relevant aspect of a parent’s concerns about an exclusion. To be clear, if parents choose to go to an independent review panel, they can subsequently take their disability discrimination case to the First-tier Tribunal. I have listened to the arguments made by my noble friend in favour of the First-tier Tribunal hearing all reviews of exclusion decisions. In light of these, I can confirm that we are proposing to commission an independent study of the new system. The aim of the study will be to compare the relative benefits of independent review panels and the tribunal. It will focus on the experiences of the different parties involved in the exclusion process—in particular pupils, parents and schools. Through this study we will also seek views on the use the role of SEN experts, to help us to ensure that that role is being used as effectively as possible. Officials are currently finalising the details of that study and I am happy to keep all noble Lords, particularly my noble friend Lady Walmsley, informed of that work. On the noble Baroness’s point about creating access to an upper-level tribunal, while I agree that it is important, there is a fair process by which exclusion decisions can be reviewed, it is also important that there is a point at which closure can be reached. It is in nobody’s interests, least of all the excluded pupil, for the process to drag on indefinitely. Where a parent feels that the process of an independent review panel was flawed, he or she will be able to ask for it to be reviewed. In the case of a local-authority arranged panel, this request would be to the Local Government Ombudsman, and in the case of academies it would be to the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State also has the power to consider complaints in relation to how local authorities and governing bodies exercise their functions and to intervene when he judges that they are exercising functions unreasonably or failing to discharge their duties. Overall with this measure, we are trying to create a system where teachers can exercise their professional judgment for the benefit of all the pupils at the school. That includes ensuring that teachers are supported to maintain a safe and well-ordered environment that is conducive to education and allows all pupils to achieve their full potential. Our reforms to the exclusion system are just one part of that aim. I hope noble Lords will feel reassured about the steps we have taken, including the additions that we have made to our statutory guidance and our trial of a new exclusion process. We have listened to their concerns and are committed to ensuring a fair system of exclusion that has some significant additional safeguards and particular focus on supporting those pupils who are most vulnerable to exclusion. I hope that I have been able to address some of my noble friend’s concerns and on that basis that she may feel able to withdraw her amendment.