Education Bill

My Lords, this debate allows us to return to the topic of faith schooling. As we have made clear in previous debates, the Government believe strongly in the role of faith schools in this country. As we have heard from my noble friend Lord Deben, faith schools existed before there was a state education system and have contributed a great deal to its development. As the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Oxford set out, it is vital to faith schools that they are able to maintain their particular religious ethos and their ability to deliver the form of education which they have historically provided, and which parents want. We think the long-standing arrangements that provide for this are working well. The Government are therefore seeking to ensure that faith schools which seek academy status continue to have the freedoms they have previously enjoyed, subject to the same protections. Turning first to the issue of faith staffing, I am aware that the noble Baroness, Lady Turner of Camden, and indeed my noble friend Lord Avebury continue to have concerns with aspects of Clause 60, which seeks to replicate the staffing regime in voluntary controlled schools on their conversion to academy status. We are grateful for the discussions which the noble Baroness had with my noble friend the Minister on these issues and hope that the detailed letter sent to her and to my noble friend Lord Avebury on 5 October provided some reassurance on this matter. My noble friend referred to that letter in the course of his comments. We agree with many of the sentiments expressed by noble Lords today. The issues are really therefore more technical ones, about how these sentiments can best be given effect in law. We agree with the intention of the noble Baroness, Lady Turner, that staff in non-religious academies should be protected from discrimination on the grounds of religion, including from being asked to teach RE against their will. The purpose of religious education in a non-religious academy is to provide pupils with an understanding of the practices and beliefs of all the major religions represented in England. No teacher in such an academy could therefore be asked to teach RE according to a particular creed or in a way that would conflict with their conscience. We are not aware of any academies where the issue of having to deliver broad, non-denominational religious education has been a problem. However, should this happen, the provisions of the Equality Act 2010 mean that no teacher in an academy without a religious ethos can lawfully suffer less favourable treatment because of their religion or belief. The Government are satisfied that adequate protections are already provided by equalities and employment legislation, and therefore that a specific replication of Section 59 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 is not necessary. Amendment 86 focuses on existing practices in voluntary aided faith schools. These are long-standing practices, which provide a common-sense approach to maintaining the religious ethos of faith schools and we see no reason to change them. Parents choosing to send their children to a faith school do so with the understanding that their children will be in an environment which reflects their religious principles. It is therefore right that voluntary aided schools are allowed to recruit staff to ensure they can provide such an environment. Regarding the second part of the amendment, I understand that there are fears that Section 60 of the SSFA could be used by a school as justification for discriminating against a teacher because of his or her sexual orientation. I very much hope and believe that no school would ever try and use a person’s sexuality as a reason for employing or dismissing them, or for treating them any differently from any other member of staff. But let me be clear: the exception under the Equality Act 2010 is intended only to permit discrimination on the basis of religion or belief, not on the basis of any other protected characteristic such as gender or sexual orientation. Discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation would quite simply be unlawful. In relation to Amendment 87, we agree with the noble Baroness that no school, whether an academy or not, should be able to change from the staffing arrangements for voluntary controlled schools to those for voluntary aided schools without due process. The policy statement setting out how this clause will be used in practice, and which the House has already seen, clearly sets out the Government’s intention that the Secretary of State will use this power only when a school can show evidence that it has carried out a reasonable consultation on a proposal to move from minority to majority faith representation on the governing body, as the right reverend Prelate set out in his remarks. Where the noble Baroness and I differ in opinion is on whether this requirement needs to be prescribed in legislation. The Government’s preference is always to keep the detail in legislation to a minimum. The noble Baroness, Lady Massey of Darwen, has proposed a new clause after Clause 60 which would seek to restrict voluntary controlled schools’ admissions arrangements on conversion. At present, any maintained faith school is able to select up to 100 per cent of its pupils based on faith, subject to being oversubscribed. As noble Lords are aware, maintained schools converting to academies retain the school’s current admission arrangements when they go through the conversion process. We want to ensure parity across faith schools in the maintained and academy sector. Conversion to academy status is not a means of changing admission arrangements at a school. I am aware that the noble Baroness has concerns about what may happen to a school’s admissions arrangements following academy conversion. It is of course possible, as in the maintained sector, that the academy trust may consider changing its oversubscription criteria. However, if an academy wanted to change its admission arrangements following conversion then, as in the maintained sector, consultation would be required and parents would be given an opportunity to object to those changes. We believe it is valuable for maintained schools and academies to have this flexibility to propose a change to their admissions criteria, should it be perceived necessary and valuable to do so. The noble Baroness’s amendment would remove that flexibility for voluntary controlled schools that have converted to become academies, fixing their admissions arrangements to those that existed on the point of conversion. This would leave them unable to respond to changes in local communities—something that voluntary schools can do in the maintained sector. I appreciate that the noble Baroness, Lady Massey, may have concerns that in the case of voluntary controlled schools, the admissions authority will change on conversion from the local authority to the academy trust. She may also be concerned that this will bring a different approach to admissions policies that would lead to a rise in selection on the basis of faith criteria. I hope I can provide some reassurance to the noble Baroness on this point. First, in terms of practicalities, I want to make clear that no school can select pupils on the basis of faith unless it is oversubscribed. Secondly, I want to underline that admission arrangements can be changed only following consultation with parents. We are also well aware of the views expressed by the Church of England on admissions, which expects Church of England schools to serve the whole community, rather than a particular section of it. That would suggest that academy conversion is unlikely to result in a sudden increase of faith-based admissions criteria. Finally, the conversion process ensures that voluntary controlled schools continue to have only minority church representation on their academy trust. It is not right to assume that they are likely to act to increase faith admissions. Before I close, I would refer to a concern of my noble friend Lord Avebury about the School Standards and Framework Act 1998, and the European framework directive. We do not accept that there is a contravention of the directive. Article 4.2 of the directive provides that, "““Member States may maintain national legislation in force at the date of adoption of this Directive””," and it also allows for future legislation to allow differential treatment on religious grounds where it reflects national practices, and where there is, "““a genuine, legitimate and justified occupational requirement””." My Lords, I assure you, once again, that the Academies Act and the changes being made in this Education Bill seek only to maintain the status quo. I hope therefore, that the noble Baroness, Lady Turner, will accept my assurances, and I urge her to withdraw her amendment.