Lords Chamber

Tuesday 16th September 2025

(began 4 hours, 30 minutes ago)

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14:37
None Portrait Oral questions: Effectiveness of the National Health Service (General Medical Services Contracts) Regulations 2015, as amended this year Lord Pack (Liberal Democrat)
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My My Lords, My Lords, first My Lords, first Oral My Lords, first Oral Question.
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Baroness Merron Portrait Baroness Merron, The Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Health and Social Care (Labour)
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I appreciate what Mike noble friend has said about Healthwatch. They did a sterling job over the years. But in assessing where we are in terms of making sure we have the right framework on patient safety and there was a recent publication of a report that said the landscape was cluttered and it was hard to hear patient voices. I think it is right we make the changes we do to improve things for them. I should improve things for them.

I should say the reform to the GP contract does very much help general practice to be at the heart of a neighbourhood health service. That is where we are going. I hear the government was planning on walk-in clinics when the new government came in. How is that progressing?

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In terms of development, as my

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In terms of development, as my noble friend will know, the 10 year health plan speaks clearly about a neighbourhood health service. That neighbourhood health service. That is where people find it easier to access. It will be up to local areas access. It will be up to local areas how they do that. In a number of areas that will be clinics where all areas that will be clinics where all services are under one roof. We services are under one roof.

We would encourage that. I can also give an example of a pilot scheme taking place now in terms of mental taking place now in terms of mental health crisis centres which are 24- 7, all year round, and available 7, all year round, and available
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None Portrait Oral questions: Risk of renewed cross-border conflict and civilian protection amid escalating tensions between Ethiopia and Eritrea Lord Browne of Ladyton (Labour)
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Second Oral Question.
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None Portrait Oral questions: Specific factors driving the increase in undocumented migrants leaving France to enter the United Kingdom Lord Massey of Hampstead (Conservative)
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Third oral question. Paper.
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None Portrait Oral questions: Government assessment of the growth figures for July 2025 Lord Leigh of Hurley (Conservative)
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people into illegal migration roots. Fourth Oral Question, Lord Lee.
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Lord Livermore Portrait Lord Livermore, The Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Labour)
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Fourth Oral Question, Lord Lee. I beg leave to ask the question standing in my name on the Order Paper. Paper. By 0.2% in the three months up to July 2025 after an increase of 0.3% in the three months leading up to June. The economy overall grew by 1% in the first half of the year, above the forecast of 0.6% stop the UK was the fastest growing economy in the G7 in this period. We want to go further and that is why economic growth remains our number one growth remains our number one But the ONS said that there is a zero growth in GDP and that means GDP per capita will be negative in part because productive people are leaving and less productive people leaving and less productive people are arriving.

The markets have made their view of the economy clear as borrowing rates are higher than any other country in the G7. Will the noble Lord agreed to meet the noble Lord agreed to meet the commissioner who has excellent ideas on the growth? As Treasury minister, will he persuade his new colleagues every employer is saying the Employment Rights Bill will severely curtail growth and now is the time for amendments? I am grateful to the noble Lord for his question and his thoughts on growing the economy.

After his success in advocating for a Brexit deal that reduced GDP by 4%, it is always helpful to get his advice on economic growth. He mentioned the monthly growth figures. I do not know if he avidly read the Office for National Statistics blog posts, but he might have seen the announcement this week they would revert to pleading with the three , and provide a clearer picture of underlying economic momentum. He might have seen UK GDP increased in the three months up to July in that data release and we can see the government action to turn around under investment, the legacy from his government, opposed now by the party opposite, is having an effect and construction output increased by 0.6%, driven by 2.1% growth in infrastructure work.

He might have seen exports to the US increased in seen exports to the US increased in July. The UK economy grew by 0.1% -- 1% in the first half of this year as a result of the fastest growing economy in the G7. He may have seen Lloyds Bank business figures showing confidence rising for the fourth confidence rising for the fourth consecutive month to its best level in 10 years.
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Lord Fox Portrait Lord Fox (Liberal Democrat)
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50% of the economy is small and medium-sized is. Their commentary about rising unemployment and falling vacancies and the highlight of employment costs from the British Chamber of Commerce, they singled out the hike in National Insurance. Earlier today those of you who were at prayers prayed for the wealth and tranquillity of the nation. My Lords, rather than waiting for divine intervention, can the Minister admit the National Insurance rise was wrong and it is contributing to neither wealth nor contributing to neither wealth nor Can I first of all say that it is a welcome return to the noble Lord and welcome return to the noble Lord and a pleasure to be asked a question by him again after a somewhat lengthy absence.

The answer to his question is no. We hear from the Liberal is no. We hear from the Liberal Democrat benches about their strong support for the investment we announced in the spending review. They supported I think every piece They supported I think every piece of investment right across the board. Not a single piece of investment we announced did they investment we announced did they They are now saying they oppose the way in which we raise that money. That is I'm afraid something we see That is I'm afraid something we see on many of their leaflets across the country and it is also the route that led to the mini-budget wanting to support outcomes but not supporting difficult measures to support them.

He mentioned small business. We have set out a clear strategy to support small businesses in this country.
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Lord Lucas Portrait Lord Lucas (Conservative)
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principles of this rather than to the details of it. For parents, the difference of information is of great importance. If there looking around for school for their child, they need to have an understanding of which schools they actually have a chance of getting into. So the admission rules and the outcomes from those rules are vital information for parents. It used to be the case that local authorities published a booklet every year, setting out exactly that, what the rules were and what the outcomes would be.

But the more that academy schools have grown, the less that has become the practice. I ran off the booklet for East Sussex, where I live, senior schools, and out of the 20 also schools that are available at secondary level, full admissions information is certainly available -- is only available for four. The others say, contact school. Because although there is supposed to be a system whereby schools provide local authorities with the information that they can then put in their schools booklets, this is no longer happening and East Sussex is by no means and outlier, it is common.

Providing parents with easily accessible schools admissions information has broken down. If as part of the forthcoming school profiles, we are to have school information available on the government website, and if as with the other excellent information that they provide on that website, it will be available in electronic form in bulk, then, my Lords, we have solved this problem. I hope that is the answer. If not, we must do something to get back to the

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position we all thought we were in. I beg to move. Amendment proposed, because 53,

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Amendment proposed, because 53, page 115, line 26, insert the words on the marshalled list.

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on the marshalled list. I have not had much input into
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Baroness McIntosh of Pickering Portrait Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative)
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intervention I've made in this important bill. I would like to draw the Minister and the Department's and the house's attention to the plight and funding of rural schools. One of the first actions that the incoming government undertook was to end the Rural Services Network grant which greatly benefited rural areas and allowed many outlying villages and farms to access the schools for their children. This has had an immense impact on counties such as Bury rural and isolated North Yorkshire.

When I was there in the other place, there was a group of about a hundred MPs who have actually felt that they represented deprived areas of local education funding for the simple reason that we lost what was initially eight rural and sparsely populated element of the funding, and the grant seemed to change every single year. In addition to the loss of the delivery grant, the government also took away the grant that was actually dedicated to rural schools transport funding, so if you like, a double whammy and a double effect of this first action from the government.

In the year up to the end, the financial year 23/24 understand the rules grant totalled over £100 million and the government saw fit to redirect that money from what are called, " more deprived areas ". I would just like to point out, during the course of my management to 55, the lack of understanding of how changes to this funding really impacts on individual rural schools, where they face the risk of closure but also impacts on the parents and the children of those who are trying to access what I believe are very good schools.

I understand that the thinking of the government is to transfer resources from rural to urban areas. So what I ask in this amendment is to ask the government to review within six months of the passing of this bill it's rural school admissions policies to include an assessment of whether admissions policies in this area have affected the availability of home to school transport. I would make a plea to the Minister to ask why rural schools have been singled out for this very, what I would describe as disappointing and shabby treatment, leaving them grossly underfunded and if you look at other local education authorities, neighbouring to North Yorkshire, such as West Yorkshire, and indeed York, or South Yorkshire, I think you'll find and she will find that rural schools in terms of accessing schools in deeply rural sparsely populated isolated areas have been very, very underfunded by this change of policy and I urge the government to think again.

I hope the Minister will look kindly. She may not like the wording, and I would be pleased if the government would bring forward a better framed and drafted amendments to accept my amendment drafting may not be perfect but I think the noble Lady will get the thrust of what I'm trying to say and I'm sure she will agree it is very unfortunate that rural schools have been impacted in this way and the admissions policy

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for schools even more so. I beg to I want to speak to amendment 456
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Lord Watson of Invergowrie Portrait Lord Watson of Invergowrie (Labour)
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I want to speak to amendment 456 in my name. Which would require state schools to have a limited faith -based selection process for admissions of 50% for school is oversubscribed. This has been a requirement since 2011. But as it stands the bill would end this requirement. We often talk about amendments being dismissed by ministers with unintended consequences. This appears to be an example of the bill itself causing unintended consequences. The determination by a succession of Tory governments initially hand in hand with the Lib Democrats to undermine schools while promoting academies and free schools vigourously has meant since 2011 all new schools have had to be free schools.

But there was one benefit of that policy because free schools are subjected to the faith -based limit in admissions as part of the funding agreement. Because 57 would remove the presumption all new schools should be free schools and instead allow others to be open. That includes foundation schools which can be 100% selective. Those types of schools would be open for the first time since the introduction of this system 14 years ago. Was that an unintended consequence? If it was initially it seems the government was not concerned because when it was debated in another place, a similar amendment was voted down by the government in committee and the same thing happened at report.

I hope my noble friend will be able to see that on deeper reflection that is now a position that she does not want to defend. I say that because this has been demonstrated to strengthen ethnic integration. Analysis of data on faith schools shows religiously selective schools Are significantly more ethnically diverse than schools that are 100% selective. I think we should bear in mind that at a time when the far- right is seeking to divide communities on the grounds of ethnicity, it is surely appropriate to allow schools to entrench differences.

This is a time for government to promote social and ethnic integration and not facilitate a means by which children grow up not knowing anyone their own age different from themselves. I cannot believe that is what the government would want. Faith selective schools are less inclusive across multiple factors. Compared to other schools they admit fewer children eligible for free school meals than would be expected in their catchment area. They would only exacerbate inequalities in the school system. Last year the office of the schools adjudicator said disadvantaged children, including those in care are missing out on school places because of faith - based admissions.

Studies by the London School of Economics reached the same conclusions. We know 100% selective schools will open if the clause remains. The Church of England will certainly do so and it may be other groups will wish to do the same. It already exists. At the committee stage the then Schools Minister said on the faith schools provision, we want to allow proposals for different types of schools to promote a diverse system that supports parental choices. Well supporting that is admirable. But allowing new 100 % faith selective schools to open would not expand choice.

It would limit it for parents in an area that does not adhere to the faith of the new school or any faith according to the survey. 53% of people now have no That is more than half of all parents with fewer choices for state funded schools than their religious counterparts and 100% faith selection allows children to be rejected from an oversubscribed school on their doorstep in favour of a child possibly miles away whose choice of religious affiliation is the factor allowing them to be selected.

I suggest that is not right or fair. Lifting this cap would be a regressive move and not

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one I think should be sanctioned by a Labour government and this offers a means of avoiding that. My Lords, I wish to speak to my

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My Lords, I wish to speak to my amendment, 457. And amendment 456 in amendment, 457. And amendment 456 in the name of the noble Lord Watson of Invergowrie. Both deal with the Invergowrie. Both deal with the issue of faith -based selection in school admissions. My amendment school admissions. My amendment speaks to the Schools Minister concerns raised in committee in the other place. The Department of education currently does not collect data on how admissions policies are data on how admissions policies are applied in schools.

Therefore we do
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Baroness Burt of Solihull Portrait Baroness Burt of Solihull (Liberal Democrat)
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applied in schools. Therefore we do not know how many parents are missing out on places on their preferred school because of religion or because they do not have a religion. Collected data would shed light on what the impact of faith selective admissions is for parents and pupils and whether such selection is contributing to or undermining parental choices. Amendment 456 should I hope be uncontroversial. Since 2011, all new faith schools, as all new schools have to be free schools, and have been subjected to the funding agreements with a 50% cap on faith- based selections on admissions when oversubscribed.

This situation, in this situation, amendment 456 is a simple tidying up exercise. That is how I read it. Extending standing policy for free schools, whether it has a religious character and all state maintained schools, which could open under clause 57. The government has not suggested in any way it opposes the 50% cap in principle. Following consultation, it showed overwhelming support for it to continue. The government stated it will maintain the cap for free schools with a religious character.

If the government is supportive of allowing new 100% faith selective schools to open, I would ask the Minister to state that clearly before the house. I wish to be clear that neither of these amendments oppose the opening or continuing service of faith schools in this country. Many of them provide exemplary education for their pupils. What the amendment seeks to do is to ensure faith schools cannot limit parental choice and pupil diversity by hand selecting who they wish to accept.

Using a selection of faith leads to less inclusion. The church of England, and minority religion schools subject to a 50% cap have higher ethnic diversity compared to those not subject to the cap. Faith schools compared to schools without a religious character in the same catchment area have been found to accept fewer children on free school meals, according to the Sutton Trust. Fewer children in care according to the adjudicator. And fewer children with additional learning needs, according to the research from the London School of Economics.

Amendment 456 and my amendment of 457 promote fairness and parental choice in admissions policy and I commend them both to the house.

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If I might briefly speak to my own amendment in this group, I will leave the summarising to my noble
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Lord Addington Portrait Lord Addington (Liberal Democrat)
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leave the summarising to my noble friend. I use the term operating in this. It may be out of date and may be unfair. But the fact is there has been an increase in the number of children not in over recent years. There was a report on it in the House of Commons, coming out in 2020 and it has been exacerbated by the COVID situation. It is about time we had a real dive into why more and more pupils are not in the mainstream system.

There have been some suggestions that the academy system will get rid of bad pupils or the fact that more people realise, there is a greater emphasis on special education and there might be more trouble for that school and that has been brought in. I would like to know. I know some of the academies, the better ones are against this and the noble Lord Agnew is annoyed about the idea of the practice and the committee stage debate on another bill. If they are asking academies that are avoiding it all summer falling into this, we should know.

Because if academies are here to stay in this bill, whether we like it or not because we have accepted them, can we find out if there is a specific problem there or if it is something else? The increased number of people not in school as a problem we have referred to throughout this committee stage. I think it is time we had a decent, in-depth look at it.

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My Lords, I rise very briefly to

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My Lords, I rise very briefly to make very few remarks as I am an active unionist and I would like to identify my support of the identify my support of the amendments in the name of the noble Baroness Burt and the noble Lord Baroness Burt and the noble Lord Watson. I hope the government will take heed of what these modest amendments say and what they amendments say and what they propose. If there is something that propose. If there is something that needs to be discussed, may I ask the needs to be discussed, may I ask the noble friend the Minister to pull together those of us who are interested in this and committed to

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this to talk about it? My Lords, if I could speak to a
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Lord Storey Portrait Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat)
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My Lords, if I could speak to a number of these amendments, I want number of these amendments, I want to do it from my own experience. Let me start first of all with the cap on faith. If you remember, this was something that was originally introduced by the Tony Blair government new schools. I thought at the time, how sensible is that? That if we live, as we do, in a multifaith, multicultural society, is it not a good thing that children mixed with children of different faiths? By speaking in committee stage, day nine, I referenced the fact my daughter went to a Jewish school.

It was wonderful for her to be able to have Jewish friends, to have Hindu friends, Christian friends and have Muslim friends. That was the ethos of that Jewish school. If you just put the Catholics there, Anglicans there and the Jewish there and the Muslims there, you divide people. I do not want to divide society. I want children to celebrate their faith and culture. The best place to do that is in school when they are learning and growing up. You only have to remember what happened in the education system in Northern Ireland.

Second, I want to talk about faith schools in terms of about faith schools in terms of And this I think is, I was speaking to amendment 456 in the name of Lord Watson on the 50% cap and I could not add anything further to his contribution. I want to now turn to my noble friend Baroness Burt's my noble friend Baroness Burt's amendment, 457. Faith schools do a fantastic job. A very good educational job. I look again at my own city and the four Anglican schools are oversubscribed, are very popular, but the way that children are admitted raises real questions in my mind.

Suddenly at the local churches, the local Anglican churches, which are in the neighbourhood of that school, guess what? They certainly fill up their congregation. Because when they apply for the school, they have to have a reference from the vicar. Number two, if they are able to go to an Anglican primary school, there are these two hallmarks of getting into the secondary school. I do not think that is the way admission should be done. It becomes almost, never mind moving church or going to church, or moving house to get into a catchment area.

This is not the way we should be filling up schools. Yes there should be faith schools. Yes, faith schools, the clue is in the title, there should be families who have faith. But to go through that sort of process in my mind seems to be an abuse of the way we admit children into school. I want to come to the question of off- rolling. I agree with my noble friend Lord Addington. We never really heard this phrase until we really heard this phrase until we It cannot be right that schools take children of their role, not because they were excluded, but may be because they have special needs and the school decided to decided couldn't cope.

Maybe they had learning difficulties and the school decided they couldn't cope. Maybe they decided they couldn't cope because the peoples had behavioural difficulties. That is not a way to have schooling in our society. And I very much support, and I think since this issue has been raised, academies have actually realised academies have actually realised that this is an issue and the subject of off-rolling has got less and less and I'm absolutely delighted about that. But there's no harm in actually making sure that this practice goes once and for all.



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Milos, as we have heard, this group and the next one cover a range group and the next one cover a range of issues in relation to admissions. My sense is that most of the My sense is that most of the amendments in this group are not really needed in practice, but the noble Baroness Minister will no noble Baroness Minister will no doubt clarify. In relation to amendment 449 in the name of my amendment 449 in the name of my noble friend Lord Lucas, as my noble friend made clear, each individual friend made clear, each individual school does publish its admissions school does publish its admissions policy on their website post policy on their website post although I accept his point that local authorities no longer local authorities no longer published as many comprehensive booklets as perhaps they once did.

But I do think that it's reasonable to expect parents to be able to look at different websites, and the admissions policies of the schools that they are interested in sending that they are interested in sending their children to. Turning to the amendments in the name of the noble Baroness Lady Garden of Frognal, my understanding is that under the fair access protocol, children who are in need of a school place will be found one and I'm just not, while I absolutely respect the noble lady's
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Baroness Barran Portrait Baroness Barran (Conservative)
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concerns about the groups of children she described, I'm not sure it is helpful that we place a it is helpful that we place a priority on one group of children priority on one group of children over another, but rather that we see a right education is fundamental to every child. My noble friend every child. My noble friend Baroness McIntosh of Pickering 's amendment relating to admissions amendment relating to admissions policies for children living in policies for children living in rural areas, I think my noble friend raised some very valid points about the financial pressures that rural schools and in particular very small schools and in particular very small rural schools face.

But I'm just not sure that an analysis of those policies is appropriate to be done policies is appropriate to be done in the Department. Turning to amendment 456 and the name of the noble Lord Lord Watson of Invergowrie, I think the noble Lord Invergowrie, I think the noble Lord raises a valid point that there is a change in policy happening with the change in policy happening with the ability in future for maintained preschools, although they won't be preschools in the sense of many of us understanding it.

Will be available. And that that is different to what exists today for different to what exists today for academies. -- Free schools. Amendment 457 as we heard in the name of the noble Baroness Baroness Burt of Solihull would require the Secretary of State to publish an annual report on School Admissions Code including an analysis of the proportion of places allocated based on faith related criteria. And of course, as I said earlier, schools already published the admissions policy.

I don't think they publish the outcomes and the comms of both rigid criteria. Again slightly puzzled about the value of doing this nationally as obvious to parents are typically looking at schools in a narrow geographic area close to where they live. Finally in close to where they live. Finally in relation to amendment 475, I agree with the name Lord Addington that off-roading is not acceptable and in 2019, OFSTED defined off-rolling as " the practice of removing a pupil from the school roll without using a permanent exclusion, where that permanent exclusion, where that removal is only in the best interests of the school rather than the best interest of the pupil and this includes pressuring apparent to remove the child from the school roll".

I do think that the suspect is clearly in the sites of the Inspectorate and I don't think with that at the noble Lords amendment is needed. He did raise much wider issues about attendance which I think go very far blonde that definition of off-rolling. And I think indeed that the new inspection framework from OFSTED with its emphasis on inclusion might serve to reassure the noble Lord that that continues to be in the sights of those who are responsible for holding our schools to account.



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The amendments in group 1 cover admissions and related issues. In relation to these clauses. In this package of measures will help to package of measures will help to ensure that decisions on baserunning and admissions support admissions, and admissions support admissions, sorry, support the needs of cuties and families were also supporting local authorities to deliver their local authorities to deliver their statutory functions. Amendment 49 tabled by the noble Lord Lord Lucas and amendment 457 tabled by noble and amendment 457 tabled by noble Baroness Bert, seek to ensure that admissions information is available
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Baroness Smith of Malvern Portrait Baroness Smith of Malvern, Minister of State (Education) (Labour)
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admissions information is available to all parents and for the Secretary of State to publish information about schools admissions arrangements including any faith- based arrangements. I hope I can provide some reassurance to the noble Lord Lord Lucas. Admission authorities are already required by the statutory School Admissions Code to publish their admission arrangements on their schools websites, including the portion of places which will be prioritised for peoples of the faith will stop and ensure that parents can easily understand how admissions arrangements will be satisfied.

Admissions authorities must also provide information to enable local authorities to publish an annual admissions prospectus for parents. The code requires local authorities to publish this information for all schools via a composite practice. Existing approach we believe is proportionate and reflects the diversity of arrangements and local circumstances and is not overly burdensome on schools or local authorities, was enabling parents to access the information that they need about their local schools. Turning now to amendment 455 tabled by the noble Lady Baroness McIntosh which seeks to insert a new clause to require a review of rural schools admissions policies, the admissions system already contains organisms to ensure that admissions policies meet local needs including rural schools, admissions authorities must consult locally performing changes and anyone who considers a schools admissions policy to be unfair or unlawful can object to the schools adjudicator.

Furthermore our school travel policy, also ensures that no child is prevented from accessing education by lack of transport. Local authorities must arrange free travel for children attending nearest suitable school who could not walk there because of the distance, the special educational needs, disability or mobility problems or due to reach safety. The government is setting out a plan to deliver best services and drive opportunity to underserved regions -- better bus services was nobody particularly talked about the issue of the rules delivery grant.

Can I just say in relation to that the government is committed to tackling the issues that matter rural communities. We are allocating funding through improved needs formally, in 2025/26, to target funding where it is needed most and investing in the priority services people rely on the most. Places with significant rural population will on average received almost 6% increase in their core spending power this financial year, a real terms increase, and the council will see a reduction.

The rules delivery grant does not properly account for need, in fact many predominantly rural councils receive nothing from it and that is clearly not right. The government consulted on proposals to purpose this funding in the usual way in the provisional 2025 /ready six settlement but the government is nevertheless keen to hear from councils about how best to consider the impact of reality on the cost of services as part of the longer term consultation on local authority funding reform which was published in June.

Turning to amendment 456 in the name of my noble friend Lord Watson which seeks to apply the 50% faith admissions cap to new state- We We greatly We greatly value We greatly value the We greatly value the contribution that faith schools make to our school system and support the ability of faith schools to set faith-based oversubscription criteria. This can support parents wishing to have their child educated in line with their religious beliefs. It is for the admission authority of individual schools to decide whether to adopt such arrangements.

Many faith schools are oversubscribed suggesting parents value and want these schools. We also understand that the ability to prioritise children of faith when oversubscribed and of course it is only at the point at which the school is oversubscribed that these criteria would bite on the admissions of a school. But when that does happen it is important to faith schools, and the risk of disappointing my noble friends and that no lady bonus but, we don't intend to change that at this stage.

But removing the legal presumption that all new schools should be academies, has brought about this particular issue, that of course intended to give local authorities the ability to make the best decisions to meet the needs of their communities and decision-makers in making those decisions will carefully consider proposals from

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all groups and commission the right to new schools to meet needs and ensure every child has the opportunity to achieve. I don't feel my noble friends

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I don't feel my noble friends minister has answered the questions about why this the change. I don't expect to make any progress right now but I think the full report will need to discuss this further.

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need to discuss this further. I'm certainly happy to write to my noble friends and perhaps facilitate the opportunity for them facilitate the opportunity for them to meet with the new schools minister in order to discuss this minister in order to discuss this particular issue. What I was in the particular issue. What I was in the process of saying was of course process of saying was of course these provisions relate to the new provisions around opening schools and in doing that decision-makers and in doing that decision-makers will carefully consider proposals from all groups and commission the from all groups and commission the right new schools to meet need and to ensure every child has the opportunity to achieve and to opportunity to achieve and to thrive.

Turning to amendments 452, A, and B, tabled by the noble Lady A, and B, tabled by the noble Lady Baroness Garden which have the effect of a enabling local effect of a enabling local authorities to direct the production of children in the asylum process, and resettlement schemes, the fair access protocol, local and collaboratively for securing school places for and placed and vulnerable children, already ensures that children of refugees and asylum seekers can be secured places in the event that they failed to secure one event that they failed to secure one

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Clause 54 extends current powers

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Clause 54 extends current powers to admit a child and also enables them to direct academies in the same them to direct academies in the same way. Clause 55 also enables the admissions code to set out admissions code to set out additional circumstances in which additional circumstances in which directions can be made, including whether fair access protocol failed to secure a school place for a child. Clause 55 will therefore already enable local authorities to already enable local authorities to initiate the direction for children among refugees and asylum seekers.

Amendment 475, tabled by Lord Ellington on the requirement to introduce a review into the practice of off-rolling in schools, I think of off-rolling in schools, I think there is a clear consensus amongst noble lords that off-rolling is noble lords that off-rolling is unacceptable in any form. We will continue to work with OFSTED to continue to work with OFSTED to tackle this. OFSTED takes unlawful exclusions and off-rolling exclusions and off-rolling seriously. Where evidence is found, it will impact the leadership and management judgement of the school.

We are committed to strengthening accountability. We are looking carefully at options for annual reviews of safeguarding, attendance and pupil movement, including off- rolling, to ensure transparency and accountability with respect to this issue. I hope that with the additional information and assurance that I have given to noble lords they will feel able to withdraw

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their amendments. Referring to Lord Watson's

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Referring to Lord Watson's No plans to make a change at this

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No plans to make a change at this time, what does she mean at this time? Will the government consider it in the future or is it not going to happen at all? I think I was clear about the

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I think I was clear about the position with respect to admission arrangements with faith schools and it is not intended to change.

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it is not intended to change. My Lords, the government is changing that. I remember, I was changing that. I remember, I was part of the debates where we arrived part of the debates where we arrived at the 50% figure. This was very at the 50% figure. This was very much understood. I remember the catholic schools played a strong part in that. In that debate. Very much understood. So the schools that much understood. So the schools that were created and quite clearly have a strong religious character, being a strong religious character, being directed and running that way, but they did not become isolated parts they did not become isolated parts of the community, fracturing it and of the community, fracturing it and separating it.

As the noble Lord said, one only has to look at Northern Ireland to see the difficulties caused by fully segregated systems. We agreed a system for avoiding that. Why is the government now going back on it? Where is the argument coming from? It doesn't appear to be coming from It doesn't appear to be coming from the Church of England. We have had silence there about these amendments. We have not heard any other religious voices saying thank you so much. This is what we want.

Who has been lobbying for this? Where is the pressure coming from? What is the government giving into in order to make this change? It is not at all obvious. The government is not being open or clear about what the motivation is or what outcome they wish for. Presumably they are hoping that we will get a collection of 100% religious character schools being founded in the next year or two. Where are they intended to be? What kind of schools are they looking at? What future is the government letting us in for? I think the government owes us some clarity and openness on this so we can understand what they are doing, what they intend to do, to our society.

This is a really important set of issues. Binding us together as a nation. This has never been more important. It is threatened from various angles now. Why is the government heading towards that I can see I am not going to get anything out of the Minister now.

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I will respond. I will as I said I would write. I think the noble Lord is enormously overstating the very specific circumstances in which very specific circumstances in which this particular criteria would relate. This is not an invitation by
16:06
Lord Lucas Portrait Lord Lucas (Conservative)
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relate. This is not an invitation by To enormously increase the number of faith schools. This is a specific requirement related to the provisions about opening a new school contained within this bill. But I will write to the noble Lords about that.

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I look forward to that but I very much regret that the settlement we much regret that the settlement we reached should be torn up in this way. When it comes to my own amendment, 449, it is all very well for the government to say that there should be a composite prospectus but there is not. It used to exist, absolutely. But it is not what is absolutely. But it is not what is available now. If you look for a available now.

If you look for a perspective of this notice -- of this type, it is not there. -- this type, it is not there. -- Prospectus, it is not there. We have produced a system where the really produced a system where the really diligent, intelligent, motivated parent can find their way through

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parent can find their way through the system. But anybody... In that case, east Sussex are not fulfilling the requirements of the statutory code that I have spelt out in my response. I would be surprised in my response. I would be surprised if that were the case. But if that is the case, then of course I would be willing to look into that. But the government has made clear the requirement both on schools to publish their admissions arrangements on their website and on local authorities to publish a composite prospectus about the admissions arrangements of all the schools in their areas.



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I have not done a complete survey but I am not aware of a single local authority that does produce a composite prospectus in the old composite prospectus in the old

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style any more. But absolutely... You might have been putting quite a lot of emphasis on the old-style a lot of emphasis on the old-style impression, my lord. I think it is on a website and I am not sure the requirement to produce a written

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prospectus for all parents is necessarily something that we would require in this day and age, is it? No, my lord. I would expect a website PDF. But something website PDF. But something containing the information which is supposed to be there to make it possible for parents to go to one place and see what the criteria is, place and see what the criteria is, the way it works for all the schools within that local authority that within that local authority that they might be interested in.

This is widely not happening and nor is that widely not happening and nor is that information available on school websites. I have checked a few. No, cannot find that either. There is cannot find that either. There is supposed to be a system but it is not. So yes, I will take up the invitation from the noble Baroness to pursue this afterwards but I think that it is important we get back to a system where ordinary, hard-pressed parents can easily find the information they need to make good decisions for their children.

I very much hope that the noble Baroness would be able to reassure me at some stage that the admissions me at some stage that the admissions information will form part of the profile of schools which is talked about in the announcement which was made at the same time as the announcement of the new Ofsted systems. I think there is a real premise in that. If the noble Baroness can tell me more about what government plans are, for what should be in the profile, and have

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that available, I should be very grateful but for now I beg leave to withdraw. Is it the pleasure of your Lord

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Is it the pleasure of your Lord Shipley amendment be withdrawn? By leaf withdrawn. Now the group of amendments beginning with 450.

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Clause 53. Baroness Longfield. I beg to move the amendment in my
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Baroness Longfield Portrait Baroness Longfield (Labour)
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I beg to move the amendment in my

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I beg to move the amendment in my name. Related to managed moves. I also speak to amendment 453 in the also speak to amendment 453 in the name of Lord Storey. This is a group of children who are literally moved between schools and who at the moment are pretty much out of the spotlight and are not in any way accountable back into the system. It is a very practical amendment and looks to provide a framework that is consistent and transparent so we do not lose these children.

We ensure we know where they are and we know when moves are in their best interests. Managed moves relate to permanent changes on a school registration. Where a move is not the result of a permanent exclusion, a transfer to a special school, school closures or moving between educational phases. They are currently not monitored or regulated in many areas. While some local authorities have very strong authorities have very strong protocols, and partnerships meaning managed moves operate well, the lack of appropriate guardrails to ensure moves between schools are in the best interests of the child have some problematic practices.

In the current system frequently neither current system frequently neither the local authority nor indeed government knows where or even if the child is being educated after a managed move. And a report uncovered a deeply concerning trend where it was estimated for every child that was permanently excluded, there were 10 more invisibly being moved around the system behind that. There are also reports that sometimes children can almost be traded between different schools and systems within this process.

Some children will spend a lot of time out of school as a result of being moved time and time again. So the solution being proposed here is very practical. It brings managed moves in line with suspensions and exclusions. It proposes that they are put through the existing access protocol and that local authority's report on their use to the Department for Education. This would subject managed moves to a collaborative review and ensure appropriate local authorities and the Department for education have knowledge and oversight and it would be important that this discussion should an application to the protocol should happen before the move is initiated, to make sure that the education of the child is not disrupted as a result.

We would want the local authorities to keep good records. We would want to be clear where responsibility lies for that child responsibility lies for that child as they move between schools. Also we would want a stipulation this does not apply to a child when they That there is a need for a definition of managed moves. And for those moves to be reported back to the department. With an annual report on the numbers and the nature report on the numbers and the nature of those moves.

There is an opportunity to draw on really good practice in many areas and create a standardised approach which would be fair, transparent and accountable. Ultimately also in the best interests of the child. I think this interests of the child. I think this really speaks to the ambition we all have been increasing opportunities for all children and strengthening inclusion as well. It is what we all want to see. I think it is practical and doable and I look forward to the response of the Minister on this.

I beg to move.

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, Line 26, insert the words as

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printed on the Marshall list. My lord, I speak in support of my amendment, 452 and amendment 454, the control of admissions into schools. This is a fraught issue for schools. This is a fraught issue for parents trying to get their children into excellent schools which lacked sufficient places, so the unpleasant
16:15
Lord Agnew of Oulton Portrait Lord Agnew of Oulton (Conservative)
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sufficient places, so the unpleasant word rationing has to apply. When a shortage of places is structural, outstanding schools can be and are supported to expand facilities. In my trust we have an outstanding school that started out in special measures more than 10 years ago. It has almost doubled cohort size in that time and I am grateful to the local authority and the Department for supporting this expansion in physical terms. This year it was the highest performing secondary school in Norfolk at GCSE. I am proud of the staff who achieved that.

But more relevant for this legislation, it shows the system can work well Either through demography or weak schools operating with larger pans, pupil admission numbers, and they can justify. Parents aren't stupid and once the reputation of a school starts to slide the discriminating ones will be looking elsewhere. My experience in Norfolk too often these weak schools in the primary phase are local authority schools. Rather than face the necessary pain of reducing their size through limiting the whole PAN they follow the line of least resistance, asking outstanding schools to reduce the intake so that children's can be spread around.

This is convenient for bureaucrats, no unseemly costs, and is the problem is solved by clawing in children who otherwise receive a good or outstanding education nearby. But if these good schools are choked up the problem is "old". It can work in the other direction, a good school operating with an optimal PAN risks being forced by local authority to widen it so they have to accept children being permanently excluded from nearby schools. Those exclusions are very often required because of the failure of the expelling school in properly handling difficult children stop good local school is then forced to take these troubled children on.

In that case, what should be happening is that the local authority OFSTED, the Department for DfE should be challenging the school getting rid of its difficult children, not dumping them up the road because they not strong enough to deal with the issues themselves. These judgements as I'm sure you will know are extremely nuanced. Often expulsion is the only solution after other avenues have been exhausted. If it is a good school making those decisions, probably a child needs to go into some form of alternative or special school provision.

It only takes a couple of unruly children in a class to damage the education for all of the others. The point I'm trying to make is that a blunderbuss to power to the local authority to intervene in these areas is in most cases much more likely to do damage and assault problems. Yes go after the 23% of expedient or indeed scrupulous heads who are abusing the admissions system but don't make the job of the other 97% harder still. We have to rely on the judgement of our head to.

In these difficult situations. We heard from my noble friends Lord Addington and he is right. These are very difficult situations. They can't be dealt with from a bureaucrats office. As I said last week, the matter of teacher recruitment and qualifications, all you're doing this Bill is making it harder in the areas of deprivation. We already have to cope with a vicious cycle of poor education in these places. Deprived areas have more poor schools with low attainment and high proportion of permanent exclusions.

In according to the IPPR a think tank children on free school meals are five times likely to be permanently excluded. How is this Bill is it's worded with its submission change is going to help those children? Reducing the PAN of good schools and to various reduces those engine of social and widening them achieves the same dismal outcome for a different route. Putting local authorities in charge of admission is really akin to putting the fox into the chicken coop.

They have an entrenched conflict-of-interest, physically at the primary phase and face virtually no consequences if they continue to reside over weak or failing schools under their control. Protect the schools from this arbitrary behaviour. It's absolutely nice is that some academies have behaved with their own self interest, badly. I do not for a second defend that. My sister with all things in a bad and all things Academy good. In any walk of life you find a vast range, look at our own politicians.

But is White my amendment is carefully together using the help of people clever and more plugged in than me. Provides local authorities with the ability to step in where existing admissions behaviour is not in the interest of children, but it protects good schools from arbitrary interventions by the local authority. In my own trust we were asked to reduce the PAN of an outstanding rated primary school in Norwich, to deal with their bureaucratic problem as I outlined a moment ago. In Norwich there are around 24 primary schools, and last year only five achieved national better at Key Stage 2.

That is the crisis, the solution is not strong collating the few that are doing a good job. In relation to my proposal to oppose course 55, stand part of the bill, remove that matter of good process but amendment 454 builds on 452 as it gives scope for schools to appeal against arbitrary decisions on emissions. What really matters is that the emissions authority, the school in most cases, is a good centre of learning any decision to tamper with the judgement being made by those running schools should be required to keep this principle at the centre of their thinking.

I beg to move.

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I stand to oppose the moment for
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Baroness Bousted Portrait Baroness Bousted (Labour)
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I stand to oppose the moment for 5 to which would limit local authorities to intervene in admission situations the admission authority has failed to meet its authority has failed to meet its admissions objectives obligations has behaved improperly. Local authorities have a statutory responsibility under section 14 of the 1996 Education Act to ensure that enough places in schools available in their area for every child at compulsory school age. The provision in this bill to create a duty on schools to cooperate with local authorities to enable them to carry out their duties as required by law and to cooperate on seven -- C visible.

It ends the nonsense of academies being allowed to set their own PAN numbers without regard to the numbers of pupils in the catchment area. Multi-academy trusts and academies are no longer outlined, they run over 46% of primary and 83% of synergy school. The government has a duty to ensure local authorities have a legal requirement to provide school place and conducive. This requires local authorities and multi-academy trusts to together to ensure place planning is done effectively and cost effectively and this is particularly important now as we are experiencing a decline in the birthrate which is affecting primary places at the moment, and will move to secondary places.

The sustained rising have seen in people number since the early 2010s has now been reversed, the number of pupils overall in England's school system decreased in January with a drop of over 59,000 pupils. Primary numbers have been falling for several years but secondary numbers are due to peak in 2027, before falling as the population bulge moves out of compulsory education. These people demographics require coordinated placed money. We cannot have the situation where local authorities are illegally responsible for providing places to pupils but have no powers to direct the majority of schools in the area which are academies to cooperate in place planning admissions and exclusions.

We cannot leave local authorities with the responsibility but without the authority to require court motion on these legal duties.
16:24
Lord Nash Portrait Lord Nash (Conservative)
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It is a delight to follow the noble lady, she may be pleased to hear that I have advised my noble friend on the correct pronunciation of her name. I didn't hear very well when we were here last week, there was a word devil into, but having checked, Hansard, I see that she seemed to think that when we had some dealings I thought she was doing the devils work working for unions. I couldn't possibly think that, I have always found her a most charming person to deal with and as opposed to the devils work recommend doing the Lord's work in their campaign and I look forward to talk to them about that.

I welcome the noble Lady Baroness Black and I hope she's finding atmosphere the Labour Party escalates you'll that she found it there, although in the current circumstances may not very much so. I write to support the amendments in the names of my noble Lady friend Ballance Darren and the noble Lord live in the real world teaches one that the benefits of competition are that strong organisations survive and expand and weak ones demise. Whilst I accept that in some areas there may be schools in remote community is where the available -- available to schools is essential, as no riding policy, I believe allowing competition has been proven to be a good thing.

Take for instance the London Academy of excellence in Stratford which started in rising tide of boats, apart from its own excellent performance, it has had a dramatic effect on the performance of the other six schools in the area. Good schools must be allowed to expand to not allow this is to deprive children of benefits and they should not be. Shoestring. Insofar as my noble Lord 's amendments is concerned about complex, local authorities clearly have a conflict of interest under the proposed revisions and also surely there must be right of appeal are set out in his amendments.

I also support noble lady's amendment five A2, because high-performance schools should be given the freedom

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as her amendment asks. ... Questions in the name of Lord

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... Questions in the name of Lord Agnew. On managed moves, if I can see something on that beforehand, I think managed moves are really good
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Baroness Morris of Yardley Portrait Baroness Morris of Yardley (Labour)
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think managed moves are really good things when they done well because they can prevent permanent exclusions. Because I know Birmingham very well, the size of Birmingham, sometimes the managed moves are made no consulted basis and I would ask that my noble friend who moved the amendment to reflect on whether you make that more bureaucratic in terms of the local authorities overall well, it will put too much of administrative burden on what is working very well in some parts of the city.

I'm not saying it's working well everywhere but where it is working well on a consortium basis it would be a shame to add layers of bureaucracy to that. On the whole the managed moves are very good. In terms of the admissions, my starting point in the same is Lord Agnew's and Lord Nash's why would you want to prevent a good school expanded. If something is good, why wouldn't you want more children going to it? I hold that at the centre of this, because that is true, but life is not as simple as that and it is not only the interests of that school and those children who might go to it that are affected by the amendments.

I was reflecting back to both noble Lords who I think one of the best things they did when they were ministers was recognise the early lie by the coalition government in having stand-alone academies and not including schools to work together, and the work they did in terms of the trust was a good step forward from what we have had at the start of the coalition government. And inherent in is that understanding that schools don't stand-alone. At their best they work with each other, help each other, depend on each other, and the key thing is they do no harm to each other.

They don't make life more difficult for the school down the road. I think that goes further than a multi- academy trust. If you take a geographical area, Birmingham, Camden, Coventry, which I know reasonably well, there is something about that place that every school in that area has in common. They teach the children of Birmingham. It doesn't matter whether they are an academy or a faith school or a free school or independent school. What they hold in common is that they teach the children who go to school in that area.

And I think they are the same obligation to each other as I have just praised in multi-academy trusts, do no harm, support each other, help each other, and compete as well. So you want to get to the top of the table but you don't want to do it at the expense of the school down the road because we want all schools to thrive and I think the problem with the amendments that are there is that admissions, if they were to follow these amendments, will harm other schools serving the same group of children and I think that is a problem.

And that is why I would oppose these amendments. A number of things, if numbers are rising and there has got to be an expansion of places, I take the point, why not expand good schools. I have often thought that is not a simple as claimed to be, sometimes the success of the school is the size of the school will stop and you can't put into five or six more children, it doesn't work. You end up putting 30 more children into you, you raise it by one form of entry, and over seven years you have got over 200 pupils and the change in the size of the school sometimes makes it different in nature and culture, and admire the damage its academic performance and its pastoral work.

So don't think expanding in schools at no cost at all. I think that something to pay. The other thing is that if we accept that corporate possibly the for all children that go to schools in that area, one sure way of making sure that other schools fail is to take kids away from them because the operating system of resources following children. And every child the goes out of that school to a successful school, money goes away from the school and its really difficult to then get back on your feet and would you then have a slow decline.

You have some children who have gone through five years of education while the numbers have been declining and maybe it closes at the end but it does not close to begin with because people think, the Department thinks there is an academy and succeed, they might build a new housing estate, they might need it. It is very complex and I think it's complex because schools have two Christmas abilities, one and foremost for the children they teach, that is the competition, but secondly that joint responsibility for every child in that area.

We go on about place. We now think places important. If place matters, there has to be a body that looks at admissions over a geographical area. And I can't think of anybody but the local education authority. If anyone else scans I would be prepared to listen but in the absence of that I think the bill, part of the bill the bill, part of the bill the If you change the admissions arrangements you can get into a situation where some parents have got no choice at all cost of the school nearest to them might be a single sex school or may be a faith school or they might not be close enough to the school if they have expanded to get airplay so you are left with no choice at all except to go to the school that was not strong to begin with and that makes your life more difficult because you take action over declining numbers, so this is not as easy as saying that schools expand, if it was Governments would have done because that is what every Government I have ever known has stated to do and it is for complex, so I hope that we can reflect on those comments.

can reflect on those comments.
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Lord Storey Portrait Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat)
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That last point which was very incisively made by the Baroness. Free schools it was a popular school and we wanted to increase the size to three-quarter of entry. The authority initially said no because if you do that you will take children from the two other primary schools in the locality and we can those schools. At the time they were miffed about this but OK. And what we need to do is to build up the numbers and the esteem of those other primary schools and they did that very successfully.

Then they agreed that my school could become the three form entry school and it is not just about size, it is also about schools working together and the Baroness Pidgeon tribute quite rightly to the role that as Ministers loves Agnew and Nash played in terms of establishing the Academy. One area that I think has never in my mind worked for me has been the fact that you can have if you like the headquarters of the Academy at the other end of the country.

It has never worked for me that a multi-Academy trust can have schools in Devon and Cornwall and also the north-east, so where is that community field? The trouble with expanding schools is that you can get to a situation were schools just want to grow and grow and grow because they get more money and they can get two large for those existing Children and Families Act. I think of the school that my wife worked at which was 1/7 form entry comprehensive which was allowed to increase its size to 11.

And it just became completely unmanageable. Also by taking this and again I will repeat it as the Baroness Morris rightly said in many cases you are just putting almost close notice on that school and those children their way to deal with it is to provide the resources, provide the expertise, and make that school popular, not by moving children but allowing children in schools to grow but by putting in real expertise to change the character and expectation of that school.

So, I put my name to the motion, amendment put down by Baroness Longfield and also I put in an amendment myself and first of all I understand the definition of management that is a permanent move of a child from one school to another for reasons not related to family. And it is important to put that into context as well and to remind ourselves that currently 1.49 million children are consistently absent from school and 1,700, 1070 1,000 children are severely absent from school.

And the who is losing learning report of 2025 said they uncovered a deeply concerning trend for every permanently excluded child 10 more moved between schools or of entirely. These moves are unregulated and unmonitored, meaning too often even the Department of education does not know where or even if these children are being educated following the move. Managed moves when done correctly can have great success, although for the pupil and the school, this is why these amendments that are very similar are so important and we do need a fair access protocol to make sure that when we carry out those managements between schools we know how it is happening and I do like the notion that they should report on this perhaps or not creating more bureaucracy but just confidence in the system, so I hope the Minister when she replies will tell us how important it is to get this right.



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My Lords, I am speaking in support of my Noble Friend Baroness Barran's amendments to clause 55 and my noble friend's amendment 454. I my noble friend's amendment 454. I have heard much around the House this afternoon, it is extremely
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Baroness Spielman Portrait Baroness Spielman (Conservative)
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this afternoon, it is extremely important. But I think there are some wider points to make. There are many romantic expectations of school but there is a perfect world in which the child will go to the school that then their parents choose, no matter how extreme a child's needs, and in which no child will ever cause harm to any other child or adult in the school and in this perfect world they expect children to be distributed permanently perfectly evenly between schools and any measure that we choose to analyse the population but this is the dream and chasing dreams rarely's children's experience in the real world.

And sadly it is entirely possible that the extra powers that will backfire, especially with policy pressure on priorities to keep even the worst behaved children in mainstream schools irrespective of the consequences. Consider a child for whom they are trying to find a managed move, if civil schools declined to accept the child it may mean they are shirking their responsibilities, or it may be that they have correctly assessed that the child needs are too great for that school or any mainstream school to manage the child safely.

One shocking case that I saw as chief expect related to a girl that was ripped by a boy that had come to her school on a managed move and at worst the receiving school had not worst the receiving school had not been informed by the sending school or the IPL eight of the boys known history of serious sexual misconduct. No school should be levered into putting other children at risk in this way. No, if the child reverted the child to one of its own schools it still has direct responsibility for the child but if it can direct the child to an Academy it has offloaded the problem at least in part.

There is an obvious incentive here for local authorities to use this power to offload the most difficult children and leave academies to shoulder a disproportionate responsibility for the most difficult and dangerous children and also to inflict the greatest risk on young children and staff in those academies. Let us also consider the point that when a decision will relate to a single child good schools do also have to consider how many children with behavioural problems they can manage and support properly without destroying the very strengths that make people work effectively with such children.

I have seen how difficult this is already for local authorities in the context of SEMD and then a school to which the child and then a school to which the child should be permitted. In theory, it is parents that she was that school, but in practice local authorities have significant influence over those parent choices, and some local authorities have perhaps on occasion found it convenient to encourage parents to choose academies rather than maintain schools, or at the very least not discourage them from doing so.

And, as a result, some popular and successful academies they are facing real difficulties, I know of cases where local authorities expected the school to fill more than 1/3 of their year seven places with children requiring intensive individual support, many of them with behavioural problems. This would have turned that schools into specialist deferred to schools without private infrastructure support of special schools. It is in fact extraordinarily difficult for local authorities to be impartial as between instream schools and for this reason I strongly support my noble friend's amendment for five to set a requiring local authorities to act impartially as to maintain local schools and academies.

And the principal should be explicit on the face of the act and similarly my noble friend's amendment 4538 and amendments for 57ABC to ensure that changes to school admission numbers are made in the interests of children and parents rather than the administrative local authority. Again, these decisions would always Again, these decisions would always be hard and would never please everyone, but it is right and important that children's needs are put explicitly first. Then it is all too certain that the shrinking cohort some excellent schools will see their schools restricted while mediocre schools carry on.

My noble friend's Lord Agnew's amendment 454 gives some protection to this principle. I hope the Government will see how unfortunate this would be and take steps to guard against it.

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Clause 53 covers the role of
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Baroness Barran Portrait Baroness Barran (Conservative)
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schools in general and academies in particular in relation to the people please plan and as we know in the vast majority of cases academies to cooperate and do fulfil their role in helping the local authority to meet its sufficiency duties as the bill says so far as is reasonable, close 54 gives the local authority new powers to direct individual pupils despite the fact that those powers already exist for the Secretary of State to use but then the funding agreement for the categories, the policy notes say in my opinion slightly quaintly schools and local authorities interest may not always be aligned and they are not expected to agree on all admissions and place planning matters, however it is expected that they will behave reasonably and collaboratively.

For example, considering the views on being willing to meet and discuss differences and sharing information in a timely manner. All this is fine, but presumably the point of the clause is to get quicker decisions and to address a problem of academies apparently unreasonably refusing to accept these pupils. But where is the evidence that this is true? In the academic year 23/24 just under 11,000 exclusions looking at later on the departments website for exclusions and extensions including incredible differences in the rates of permanent exclusion in particular, even enabling local authorities.

And this is true both for local authorities were almost all academies and those when there predominantly maintain schools. I understand that the 85% of exclusions are happening in secondary schools and with the vast majority of secondary schools being academies, we do need to ensure that those people that can continue in mainstream do so and those that cannot placed in high quality alternative provision. But I had been unable to find the data on the number of pupils both when an Academy has refused to accept them and where the Secretary of State has required the Academy to do so.

I think it is important that we understand both of these figures, the first to give a sense of the scale of the issue and the second to quantify how many pupils are impacted by what might be defined as unreasonable refusal on the part of the Academy. If the noble Baroness the Minister does not have that data with her today, would she write to We also want to know how stable the placements are, and how many are excluded again.

But even without this data, we are worried about the principal which we have discussed in earlier groups of overriding the funding agreement powers. We are worried about the real conflict-of- interest with local authority both running schools and having the power to place more challenging children in particular schools, so my amendment for 51ZA in particular schools, so my amendment for 51ZA6 to get clarity that the legal status of the school will not have any bearing on where a child is placed. The noble Baroness the Minister will be aware that there are concerns expressed in evidence given to the Public Bill Committee in the other place that having large numbers of children, the example that my noble friend just gave 1/3 of children in year seven who perhaps have already moved school several times and been excluded, what impact that has on the perception of that school and the local authority.

It is important that this legislation is fair and feels fair, so I think it is important that the Minister explains how this is a conflict of interest how this is a conflict of interest with the local authority as Fox and the chicken coop will be resolved. My noble friend has offered an alternative to clause 54. Amendment 452 makes it clear that the local authority should only be directing an academy to admit children and that trust has failed to meet its obligations or where there is clear evidence of disadvantage or unfair treatment.

And it also requires the local authority making the direction to provide evidence and carry out a consultation with the admission authority before doing so. All this seems like common sense to me and brings a sense of Allen's to the desire to expedite the placement of children who are in need of a school place, and I support my noble friends amendment 100%, and I think it really does address the points raised by the noble lady about not in anyway interfering with the local authorities duties.

Lord Agnew has also highlighted some of potential problems with clause 55 which gives the local authority the power to direct admission of an individual child, and I know the government has argued that this is no real change in academy freedoms, but simply a chance for a power from the Secretary of State to the local authority. But this is happening in the context where mainstream schools are being asked to take children who arguably should be in either specialist or alternative provision. Of course they need certainty about where they will be educated, but the where they will be educated, but the pressure to be inclusive needs to be weighed by the children and the school room.

The schools adjudicator determines school admission numbers as a result of upholding an objection or a referral. The Explanatory Notes to the bill says the government seeks to amend these regulations to enable local authorities to also submit an objection where the admission number has been increased or maintained at the same level as the previous year. Currently, the school adjudicator can only consider objections where the admission authority has decreased their published admission numbers. The change presented by the government will mean it will consider objections where a school is seeking to retain or increase its pupil numbers, and the school adjudicator decision will determine the plan which the school must adopt.

And we just think this clause needs rethinking, and my amendment offers the government different ways of improving on it as well as arguing that clause 56 should not stay as part of the bill. The government's impact assessment is clear that they want local authorities to have more influence over plans for school in their areas. This is happening at a time where it is well known that pupil numbers are falling, particularly in London. The impact assessment also says this would include scenarios where schools plan is set at a level which creates viability issues for another local school.

This point was reinforced by Rachel, the president from children's services in an interview with schools week in April. She said that schools needed to be where your children are, so it's not helpful to have one particular type expands beyond the authority which causes lots of people to seek to travel. She goes on that it is better to invest resource and attention in improving the school where it is to serve the community that it is based in and I really do understand the pressure on local authority when a school becomes unviable and potentially has to close.

I spent many hours deliberating on these things when I was in the Department but we cannot allow a situation where good schools are forced to reduce in size to protect a less popular and underperforming school. This damages the opportunities for children and cuts across parental choice. To quote the government again, if a school is required to lower their plan, some pupils who would otherwise have been admitted will be unable to attend the school. This will negatively impact on parental preference, especially if the school was the parents first choice.

So my amendment is 453 a and 457 a seek to ensure firstly that the adjudicator takes into account the performance and popularity of the school, and secondly, that the adjudicator can only receive objections in relation to In power, and 457B would allow high performing schools to increase their plan. We are not weathered to the exact educational metrics in that amendment but we do think there is an important point of principle at stake here. Amendment 453B increases the bill as we would like to limit making powers in the legislation, and I think the adjudicator will use to make a determination will change so frequently.

So can the noble Baroness explain why the government needs this flexibility. Some of the criteria will be on the bill in relation to the definition of full- time education in an earlier clause. There are real concerns about the role of the adjudicator in this context and so amendment 451 gives admission authorities the right to appeal and surely this is a sensible edition. To be clear, unless the government accepts at least my amendment 457B, it is saying that it is prioritising the financial stability of an underperforming school on the quality of education.

And indeed the safety of other And indeed the safety of other principles. On these benches, we are really clear that this is the right choice. With apologies to the house, I overlooked which should have been in an earlier group if the Minister is wondering why it is in this group. This seeks to implement part of the 2002 education act passed under the previous Labour government. This section was never implemented for reasons that I don't fully understand, but I think it goes to the heart of the issue about how we create a self improving school system.

I hope the noble Baroness the Minister will take the amendment in the spirit that it is intended and not spend any time pointing out how regimes have changed over time. Namely, that we want to create a self improving system, a system for our schools that has new creative and intellectual energy, a system that is curious and wants to learn, and one that respects and listens to the evidence. One that feels that it has the agency to make change and the accountability to drive improvement.

So my amendment would achieve the government's goal of consistency in the way that academies and maintained schools are treated, but would rather give the same freedoms to both high performing academies and high performing maintained schools. I think I am right in saying that this is the work of the noble Baroness of Yardley when she was Secretary of State, and this amendment gives the government the chance to complete the noble Baronesses work, but it achieves that goal by increasing autonomy rather than increasing central control.

Our nation and our government face a huge challenge in improving public services and I would urge the Minister to consider this carefully. Education was the area which saw the greatest improvements under the previous government, and it was the area where the autonomy and accountability principle was tested at scale. Not every trust has used its freedoms at all, and not every trust used them well, but the most successful trust, particularly for disadvantaged children did use those freedoms and did not just use them well but use them brilliantly.

And our accountability systems have developed to address those who did not, so why wouldn't the government want to see more of this? At a time when we need to see the same out first of creativity and effective practice in relation to special educational needs and disabilities, for example. This is surely an obvious choice. If the government rejects my amendment which would simply implement their own parties legislation, then I think we will all be left thinking that we should judge the government does, not by what it says.

What do all the reality of the actions of the government going the opposite direction? I think this is an acid test of the government's vision. I beg to move the amendment in my name in this group and that clause 56 should not stay as part of the bill.

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Turning 1st to causes 54 and
16:57
Baroness Smith of Malvern Portrait Baroness Smith of Malvern, Minister of State (Education) (Labour)
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Turning 1st to causes 54 and clause 55, a matter of which the clause 55, a matter of which the noble Lord Agnew opposes staying part of the bill, together, these clauses extend local authorities current powers to direct maintained schools to admitted child to also enable them to direct academies in the same way. They were important elements of this bill which are about future proofing the system. As I explained last week in talking about the nature of the National Curriculum, if quite rightly a majority of our schools or schools which are teaching the majority of our children are academies, and if we do as a government want to continue the progress to see more academies developing and opening, we do need to futureproof the system, and it is the case at the moment that local authorities can only direct, in the circumstances in which the very particular circumstances that they need to direct admissions into half or even fewer schools than.

And they also enable the school admissions code to set out additional circumstances in which directions can be made to ensure school places for vulnerable children can be secured more quickly and efficiently. Enabling local authorities to direct into academies without needing to make a request by the Secretary of State will help to reduce delays in securing vulnerable children in school place. It is right that there is a route to direct into an academy, but that requires making a request to the Secretary of State.

The average number of days for that to be determined is 38 days. That is a long time for a vulnerable child to be without a school place. These will create a more streamlined directions program with a fair access protocol for an place and vulnerable children has failed to secure a child a school place, and together, these measures will help provide a robust and consistent safety net for vulnerable children, ensuring that no child falls between the cracks.

Turning to amendment 452 which amends the circumstances in which local authorities can direct admissions and places certain requirements on academy admissions and to amendment for 5 to set a table by Baroness Barran requiring local authorities to not take into account a schools academy status in Noble Lords are absolutely right it is important these decisions are made in the best interest of the child and the impartiality between types of schools should be maintained. Legislation already contains protections to ensure that local authorities powers of direction can only be used in limited but deserving circumstances.

As well as consulting with the child's parent and schools, local authorities must ensure decisions are made in the child's interests. Including ensuring the school is suitable to the child's needs. These decisions and proposals are all about ensuring children's needs. Not as the Noble Lord Agnew continues to keep calling those people who have decided to devote their careers to looking after children and our schools bureaucrats which I do think is the shame and I hope that Noble Lord does not mean it in a disparaging manner in which he continues to use it.

Public law principles already prevent local authorities taking account of relevant factors when taking decisions such as whether a school is an Academy or not. Of course we recognise the point made by noble Lords about the potential for conflict-of-interest here and that is why this measure will also give the Academy trusts new right to reject to the independent school adjudicator they disagree with the local authorities decision to direct a child into their school. Turning to amendment 450 and 453 tabled by my Noble Friend Baroness Longfield, on arranging the moves to protocols I think there have been some important and useful points made by my Noble Friend about the way in which managed moves might actually be appropriate in being organised but I certainly also agree with my Noble Friend Baroness Longfield as I think I spelt out in the previous group that it is absolutely right that we should maintain a close eye and improve oversight of pupil movement and that is why we are already doing so by strengthening accountability through reforms to OFSTED the annual reviews of safeguarding attendance and pupil movement, including of rolling.

I think that my concern about right Noble Friends amendments is not in the intention but it is in the practicalities because these amendments would require a fair access protocol to be invoked in almost every situation where people move permanently to another school. I do not think that for my noble friend's introduction that was her intention but that would be the effect of the amendment. And that of course is not the intended function of fair accessible protocols and would actually delay vulnerable pupils from accessing that place.

Turning to amendments related to clause 56 on published admission numbers. And the Noble Lady Baroness Barran has indicated that she intends to look at where this should stand part of the bill, close 56 provides that where the adjudicator upholds an objection to the schools plan they can specify the new plan to be in the schools admission arrangements here I think we had a very important and help intervention from my Noble Friend pointing out of course the duty that local authorities have to secure sufficient places for children within the areas in which they have responsibilities and it is important therefore for us to ensure that local authorities have the ability and the reality to be able to do that.

In some areas we know that schools do not offer enough places to meet local needs. Equally, in areas of forming pupil roles, some schools increase or retain this beyond what is needed. This can make it harder for the local authority and school leaders to plan effectively. Hurting pupil outcomes and even I know there is concern from noble Lords that the impact of this would be to somehow or other prevent the quality and the parental choice that I think all of us are concerned about here.

As my Noble concerned about here. As my Noble Friend baroness pointed out if it is impossible or hard for local authorities and school leaders to plan effectively, that, in itself, may well have the effect of hurting people outcomes and damaging other good schools and in doing so limiting parental choice, all of which we agree that we want to protect and promote. This measure will be supported by changes to regulations and the schools admissions code to enable local authorities to object where this is increased or retained and to create new rules to ensure the quality of provision and parental choice are key considerations throughout.

And I have to say on this point about using regulations in our discussions, with the representatives of trusts there has been a strong recognition that it is appropriate in these particular circumstances to do this through the approach of regulations, and of course that also enables us to continue that consultation and to make sure that those regulations in the school admissions code to for all of us from different kinds of schools as well that they want to see delivered here.

Alongside changes to regulations this clause will help create a clearly legible framework for how the decisions are made to ensure children have access to the best education that they can achieve and thrive. Turning now to amendments 453 a and 453B, 457 a tabled by the Noble Lady Baroness Barran, I want to reassure noble Lords that a combination of changes to the statutory admissions code and the new regulations will ensure quality and parental choice or a key criteria in any decision and that other relevant factors are given due consideration.

In those cases pupils will be best served by high performing schools growing or retaining existing plans, but such decisions also need to consider the interests of children already enrolled in other good local schools. Rather than a rigid inflexible approach it is important that admissions authorities, local authorities, and the adjudicator are able to take into account the totality of local circumstances to ensure that the needs of all pupils in the community are met. And as I have suggested we do consider that these matters are best addressed by the regulations that are provided in clause 56.

We want to work in the sector to develop these regulations to ensure that these are clear, comprehensive and best meet the needs of pupils in schools. Turning to amendment 774454 tabled by Lord Agnew seeking to get a route for them to repeal the decision made by the adjudicator, of course the adjudicator already exists and has done under the previous Government and under the Government before that in which IN other education Ministers at various points the adjudicator already exists as an independent body appointed by the Secretary of State.

They will take an impartial view on the objection from the local authority at the end of a rigorous statutory process. To create a separate appeal that would duplicate their role, of course in extremist authorities can already challenge an adjudicator's decision through judicial review. Finally, turning to amendment 502 in the name of the Noble Lady I have to say we didn't think we had covered quite a bit of this last week in a interesting and lengthy discussions which is she says would maintain that schools could be exempt from and modify statutory teacher pay and conditions in the curriculum if they were considered as well performing and of course we share the aim of this amendment as we discussed last week at length we share the aim of ensuring a National Curriculum that can maintain within the National Curriculum to innovate and the ability to ensure that our Our airflow, not at ceiling and we want to ensure that there are consistent and high standards across schools.

This amendment in fact would propose a fragmented approach that is contrary to our guarantee for all children, through our wider reforms we want to ensure the ability to innovate and the flexibility to adapt to local needs that are available to every school, not just a select few, without compromising on this call standard, regarding the curriculum as we discussed last week the bill ensures that the core National Curriculum once reformed will be an entitlement for children in Academy schools as well as in mainstream schools and will provide the solid and broad foundation of knowledge skills and attributes that young people need to thrive and that they are entitled to receive in whatever school they attend.

The reformed natural curriculum however will still give schools including academies flexibility to tailor their teaching to the specific needs of their pupils and communities continuing to give them space to innovate without a ceiling and on the matter of conditions the bill enables the establishment to help ensure a competitive payoff after all state schoolteachers. This is crucial for recruiting and retaining the best teachers with high standards in our schools but through wider reforms to teacher pay and conditions we will spread best practice and innovation across the state school system by removing the ceiling on pay as is the case for academies and introducing greater flexibility is for all state schools, for example enabling more flexible working for teachers as we have discussed when previously considering this area.

I hope that given the assurances I have provided noble Lords will feel able to withdraw their amendments.
17:13
Baroness Longfield Portrait Baroness Longfield (Labour)
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Thank my Noble Friend Minister

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Thank my Noble Friend Minister for those points around that and the ambition is for all children to be ambition is for all children to be able to benefit from a great education and for them to thrive in school. The amendment I put forward was very much about keeping children was very much about keeping children within schools but also within the education system and it is a practical response and I have been practical response and I have been really pleased to bring together a group of schools and school leaders who are really putting forward a very positive practice there to meet with the education team and talk with the education team and talk about that, but with that in mind I beg to withdraw my amendment.



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beg to withdraw my amendment. Is at your Lordships pleasure the amendment be withdrawn? The amendment is by Lee, withdrawn. The amendment question is the close 53 stand part of the bill. As many as are of that opinion, say, "Content", are of that opinion, say, "Content", Of the contrary, "Not content", The contents have it. After clause 53 amendment 451, old story, not moved. In clause 54 amendment 452, not In clause 54 amendment 452, not moved. The question is that clause moved.

The question is that clause 54 stand part of the bill. As many as are of that opinion, say, "Content", Of the contrary, "Not content", The contents have it. After clause 54 amendment 45 to set a Baroness Barran, not moved. For a Baroness Barran, not moved. For five to a and B, not moved. The question is that amendment 55 stand part of the bill. As many as are of that opinion, say, "Content", Of the contrary, "Not content", The contents have it. After clause 55 amendment 453, Lord Storey, not moved.

In clause 56 amendment 450 3A, Baroness Barran, not moved. 450 3B, not moved, 454, not moved. The question is that clause 56 stand part of the bill. As many as are of that opinion, say, "Content", Of the contrary, "Not content", The contents have it. After clause 56 amendment 455, not moved. Amendment 456, not moved. Amendment 457, not moved. Amendment 457 a, Baroness Barran, not moved. 450 7B, not moved. The question is that clause 57 stand part of the bill.

As many as are of that opinion, say, "Content", Of the contrary, "Not content", The contents have it. The question is that clauses 58, 59, and We have just come to clause 57. I beg your pardon. I am in the wrong beg your pardon. I am in the wrong beg your pardon. I am in the wrong I do beg your pardon. Then I've got that in the wrong place as well. No, I haven't. Sorry, I'm somewhat confused because we've got to come to 58 to 60 and 61 to 62.

Yes, well, I did call that. Question was the clause 57 stand part of the bill. It has been debated. I beg your pardon. has been debated. I beg your pardon.
17:17
Baroness Barran Portrait Baroness Barran (Conservative)
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I, we seem, we have seen some of the most significant improvements in outcomes for pupils in our free schools with schools such as Michaela and Art Greenwich in London, Eden girls and boys, part of the star academy trust in Birmingham, and the Murcia school in Sheffield to name but a few achieving remarkable results. And I know that my noble friends Lord Harris, Lord Nash, and Lord Agnew are very likely to add to that list of exceptional free schools that they have been part of creating.

Free schools have been a mechanism for the injection of new ideas, new energy, and improving models of education into the state system. Free schools respond to parental and community demand. They provide parents with choice over their child's education and they have driven up standards. Free schools are usually part of a strong multi- academy trust which has a track record of delivering high quality education and the back office capacity needed to support smooth and financially sustainable operations across HR, finance, 80 premises and more.

Local authorities do not and have never had this same capacity and ability to provide tailored support to schools. The reason given for the change in policy in the bill to allow local authorities to open free schools in future is given in the policy summary that this measure better aligns local authorities responsibility for securing sufficient school places with their ability to open new schools. So, again, and if I may leap back to the previous group, I notice the noble Lady didn't commit to right but I'm sure her officials noted my request for the data in that group, but again, and can the noble Baroness the Minister share the evidence that there really is a gap in their ability to secure sufficient school places and cite any incidences where a local authority has been unable to meet their sufficiency duty as a result of a lack of applications from suitable trusts to establish a new free school.

Certainly, during my time in office, there were always multiple applications for new presumption free schools both mainstream and special schools. My worry is that this is an example of bureaucratic tidiness being prioritised over outcomes for children. The English system is not tidy. We have voluntary aided schools, foundation schools and many other models and on paper it might look messy but we have been still able to rise significantly at the global league tables because we have focused relentlessly on outcomes over bureaucracy and this clause feels like putting the bureaucrats diagrams first, even a bureaucrat with a big heart and a lifelong commitment to children.

Before the noble Baroness Goudie me to much. And all of this will change and will create higher cost for the government. In an interview with schools week in April, the new president of the ADC S said in relation to the range of new responsibilities that councils will be given in the bill that part of our ongoing dialogue is going to be about if you want us to do these things, then we're going to need to be resourced accordingly so can the noble Baroness the Minister given estimate of the funding needed for local authorities to fulfil their duties including in relation to free schools.

This proposed change creates a fundamental conflict-of- interest with local authority. They will both invite proposals for the free school when one is needed and be able to postpone themselves. They will then decide which proposal to approve. That is hardly a system designed to build confidence. We are told that when they put forward their own proposal, the Secretary of State will be the decision-maker, but this introduces an additional layer of work and there I say it bureaucracy in a system that is currently working reasonably well.

Organisations like the new schools network have been critical in supporting trusts establishing free schools and building capacity in the sector. So we think the change in policy created by clause 57 is a fundamental mistake and unnecessary, and I hope the noble Baroness the Minister will think again. My amendment 480 seeks to unblock the pipeline of free schools which have been put on hold since the election. I think there are 44 potential free schools on hold including some which would bring really high quality 16 to 19 education to areas of very high deprivation, including with a high percentage of white working class boys the Secretary of State has recently focused on.

Surely this is a way to demonstrate that focus and unlock those applications now. The government have so far spent twice as long reviewing the free schools pipeline and it took to open the free schools in 2010. Election to free score opening was 142 days. The announcement of the review in October. The announcement of the review in October 2024 to today is about 288 days. Overall, it feels that the whole programme has been delayed and I hope the Minister can reassure the house that this is not the case and put some numbers on how many places will open in the next three years from special and mainstream schools.

I would like to express my support for amendment 481 which would bring greater transparency to the accounts of maintained schools. I'm sure that my noble friend is tired of being told there is not enough transparency in relating to academies when there is no financial visibility for maintained schools. I beg to me.

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I apologise to the committee and the noble Baroness for my confusion the noble Baroness for my confusion early on. My papers went marked up and I read them wrong. The question
17:24
Lord Agnew of Oulton Portrait Lord Agnew of Oulton (Conservative)
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and I read them wrong. The question is the clause 57 stand part as the bell.

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Addressing my amendment which is

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Addressing my amendment which is a bit of a mixed bag this group, but I think it is relevant and I think it is relevant and important. It seeks to level the playing field and ensuring that there is a high level of financial governance with local authority schools compared to academies. Yet the credit must go to a previous Labour government for setting out/strong foundations to underpin the government academies. It is night and day when compared between academies and local authority schools.

I had a reputation for schools. I had a reputation for being something of a martinet when it came to discipline of school it came to discipline of school finances. People have made fun of me finances. People have made fun of me over the years which doesn't trouble me in the least because every pound I have saved from wasteful and poor management is then available from management is then available from the frontline in improving the education of children. The Minister education of children.

The Minister might even want to call me a bureaucrat because I have been so assiduous in that particular part of assiduous in that particular part of the system. I would love to see the overall school budget at a much higher level but that is not going higher level but that is not going to happen given the state of our country's finances. So we have to work with what we've got. The level of accountability and visibility of the oversight of our own schools is Nokia best.

An academy trust has to complete a full external audit of its finances within four months of being close in the academic year. That is between 31st of August and 31st of December. Accounts have to be filed with company house on that date. At that point, the full record of the trust financial affairs is available for public scrutiny for the year ending only four months the year ending only four months has seen it. Any trust that misses this deadline, any trust more than a month late was immediately placed on a risk register.

It schools or trustee can't get the money right, how can they ever get the education right? It really is that simple. But what visibility is there for local authority schools. Virtually nothing that is easily accessed. It is an endless battle to get this kind of information. Although we would complain frequently about not having enough money, they will rarely forthcoming about how a spending what they had. This is a very unacceptable state of affairs. If we look at some key categories of oversight and compare the levels of transparency, I hope you will see why this unbalanced situation needs correcting.

The accountable bodies. For academies, it is the Board of Trustees and the members sitting above that. The DfE trust Academy handbook sets the rules. These board members and the members themselves are wrong every academies website. The local authorities are their own accountable body and try talking to that person. Audited annual accounts I have already explained, but there are no requirements of anything similar for local authority schools. It is even worse that the average frequency of an internal local authority in the public's own schools about every three years and is virtually impossible to see a copy of those reports that I failed consistently when I was in the department.

Internal auditing for supper trust have a certain size which is another annual requirement. For those noble Lords not familiar with the term, an internal audit is not exactly as it says on the tin. An internal audit is looked at by internal specialists the looks of different areas of operation beyond finances such as deep dives into cyber ability, payroll, the condition of the school of state and so on. There is no such requirement for local authorities. Academies are required to submit annual accounts to the DfE and to 3 month budget forecast.

They also need to demonstrate compliance with the local authorities again put there is no standard account and they are not required to submit three year forecasts. Monthly management accounts. They are required to ensure that the Board of Trustees sees these four times a year. My noble friend actually reduced it and she was right that my bureaucratic obsession probably got the better of me. This is not required for chairs of governors and local authority schools. Related party transaction reporting have to comply with specific rules such as needing independent authorisation and larger sums.

It was 20,000 but I think my noble friend might correct me. But again, nothing like that with local authority schools. Publication of salary, academies have to disclose all salaries above £100,000. Local authority schools, not so. Only required at LA level. Estimates I have seen says there are over 1000 staff and the local authority schools across England that have exceeded that threshold, so any defence that it is not a material number of people in receipt of public money I don't think washes.

Website reporting are required to publish their audited accounts on their website. There is no requirement for local authorities to publish their school accounts and the accounting officer, academies have the point a minister with personal responsibility for accurate and timely reporting. No such thing exists in local authority schools. Given LAs are facing an unprecedented squeeze with some virtually bankrupt such as Birmingham, there should be no excuse for them to give up and up their game. The cost which will be the reflective defence for doing anything would be triggered against the improvement in the spending going on inside the LA schools and would be recouped many times over the cost of the audit fee.

Every time that I have taken over local authority schools, we have eliminated hundred thousands of pounds of expenditure which was then focused on teaching. In every secondary school inside my trust, because of the financial management, we have been able to extend the school day by three hours a week. If a child spends the full five years of his or her education in one of those schools, it is the equivalent of getting another year's education. That is what is at stake here.

Norfolk is not a well funded authority. We are not getting any handout but it shows you that if there was more rigour in the system, it would make an enormous difference There is a very simple solution that would drive the actual discipline to be part of the school system where this currently rules the roost. I beg to move. beg to move.
17:31
Lord Harris of Peckham Portrait Lord Harris of Peckham (Conservative)
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I am very disappointed that we have got over 50 schools that are still waiting to hear the results from. We started taking schools back in 12, got 16 preschools a day all under the Conservatives. We got great results from these 16 schools, 12 outstanding, 14 good, and 15,000 children the. And this year though schools are different between the ordinary children and the disadvantaged children it was only 1%, so it proves that we want more of them. I want to see everyone get a good education step and the other point is that we want more schools because we have got teachers we have trained, we have got nearly 100 teachers trained to go into new schools and we are paying for them privately from investors to make it happen.

We cannot get schools, we can't get schools that are failing because they are going to have another two years of feeling that is very important. If you look at the results of the free schools and the County schools if you take primaries the free schools, every school in the country is 68%. The local councils is 62 and I am proud to say Paris is 76. Secondary which is finished for this year which is progress eight the secondaries or 0.24 and the council schools are 0.01.

And if we go to the A-levels they are fantastic with the academies, 29% of the children get a stars and is from the preschools against the country average of 26. This makes a big difference. We are giving children a better education. We want to be sure they get that education and I think we have got to schools that we worked on for two years and three years. One of them, this school is in an old mill, at the top of Tesco, a building down the road.

We were promised we would get a free school there where they are building for thousand and eight new houses, and at the moment we can't get an answer. The school was always inadequate. It was inspected last month, sorry, last month before the year end, the houses standing, the secondary outstanding and the sixth form got good. In the sixth form was at the top of the Tesco. 40 students do you know how many we have got now? 220 students in that area the conditions we are getting and giving people a good education and that is what we need to do.

We need a school with 1,500 students it happens and it works. I heard today that people said about primary schools some of them are too big and I do agree. We have got primary schools outstanding with 300 people, 300 students, and we have got schools with just under 1,000 pupils outstanding in the primary sector and by the way I about that, so what you need is motivated staff, motivated people, and motivated children that want to come to school and some of them do not.

When we take over a school we see three years to make that outstanding and 95% of the schools we have taken over our outstanding in three years. We talk to them, we put more people in, we cut the costs because the costs are very strong, they have got to many staff not doing things, we take them out, good staffing. Make sure they're happy. A child only get one chance at a good education and we have got to make sure every child in this country get a good education.

Then we can talk about a school in Greenwich. This is very disappointing. We spent nearly 3 years and nearly £1 million in our budget to improve attend other Government department spent a lot of money as well. We got it approved about six weeks before the election. It was in the press, before it opened it does not open for two years. The people want these good schools. They want them to not only have the schools put the schools all over the country they want good schools.

We have got to make sure that we give them good schools but we can't have the feeling schools that have been failing for two years for another two years which is nearly the lifetime of a child's education. I am a great believer in education, I know everyone here is, we have got to make sure it works and it happens and we have got to make sure they get a good education and I hope the Government look at these schools, make it happen, because they are very successful.

because they are very successful.
17:36
Baroness Evans of Bowes Park Portrait Baroness Evans of Bowes Park (Conservative)
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I to rise to speak in the program and amendment to hundred and 80 in the name of my Noble Friend. Preschools have been a significant driver in this country over the last decade and 1/2 and their impact is being felt and that benefits they have needed most, today there are Educating hundreds of thousands of children and the results speak for themselves. Those free schools that have been inspected 93% R-rated good or outstanding by Ofsted and is my Noble Friend Lord Harris has just said this summer's exam results have confirmed their impact.

Preschools once again outperformed on selected state schools with GCSEs and A- levels hoping to drive up standards of high deprivation and traditionally poor educational achievement. 31.3% of A-levels statewide pupils and free schools achieved grade or a star compared to 25.2% by pupils in all state funded schools. 23.7% of GCSEs taken by pupils at preschools graded seven or above compared to 20.6% studied by pupils in all state funded schools and provisional results for 2025 Key Stage 2 show 70% of pupils for free schools met the expected standard for reading, writing and maths, compared to 63% of pupils or mainstream primary schools.

These are not isolated success stories, they look at the freedom work and the success of free schools has been especially striking, the new schools network report on the impact of free schools highlights the fact that they have been disproportionately located in the most deprived parts of the country and played a key role in improving access to high-quality places where they are most needed. Many of the stronger performers such as the Academy Fulton, Dixons Trinity Academy, Newent Collegiate six form, the star academies also have communities that have historically studied suffered.

Giving future to innovate, whether it is long school day or searching the curriculum are developing closings with businesses and universities has a measurable impact on outcomes, helping to close the disadvantage. So, given this record it is disappointing that the Government now seeks through clause 57 to weaken the very mechanism that has allowed these schools to flourish by removing the requirement flourish by removing the requirement to seek when a new school is needed and as the former national schools commissioner observed, free schools are excellent way of filling the supervision that are always obvious in Whitehall or local authorities and we should back school leaders and others to decide what their area needs.

Finally amendment for 80 tabled by my Noble Friend Baroness Barran would require the Secretary of State to proceed with the opening of 44 mainstream approved free school projects that were bought in October 2024 as we have heard many of these proposed new schools will offer incredible opportunities for young people in the areas they are due to be set up from ensuring that every English region has a 16 to university to proposals for new states exposed to support students from disadvantaged backgrounds through a collaboration between a leading private school and a multi- Academy trust in Oldham, Middlesbrough, and Dudley, since the report however there has been a lack of information and progress.

The 44 schools under review have not been publicly named and there has been a lack of transparency in the Department about the review process that is being followed, or indeed when it is due to conclude with officials only seeing that updates will be sent to trusts and local authorities in due course. Projector mounted the department before Christmas but have had little since, so can the noble Baroness the Minister please update the House on when the review will conclude to provide certainty to these projects? And she will not they have put a huge amount of work and effort into submitting their applications but have been in limbo for almost one year.

Furthermore, an educational request in The Other Place on 21 July in response to a question on capital resources to help expand this, the former Minister Stephen Morgan said that the Department and I quote hopes to replicate the success of these settings across the Two free schools in the pipeline, Nottingham and Durham. And a number of other 16 to projects proposed for outside London by trust with the Track Record of exceptional results, so the Government has the means to replicate the previously successfully have seen across the country at its fingertips, so why not approve the free schools and all the 44 schools in the pipeline? Preschools have delivered exceptional outcomes, expanded opportunity, and brought high- quality education to communities that for too long were left behind.

Clause 57 risks turning back the clock, while amendment for 80 would give certainty to 44 much-needed projects and ensure that the next generation of free schools could continue this record of success. I do hope the Minister will reflect on the positive contribution of the free school program that it has and it is making to hundreds of thousands of people's lives and ensure it is able to grow in order to further improve our education system particularly in areas that need it the most.
17:42
Lord Nash Portrait Lord Nash (Conservative)
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It is a great honour to speak behalf of these amendments that I support in the name of my Noble Friend Baroness Barran. I thought the speech and the passion with which she spoke as a tribute to him and his team that have done the most remarkable job and it is also a tribute to the Government that had tribute to the Government that had the foresight to bring people in to help turn this around and that is why it is such a shame as I have said before to see this Labour Government appear to go back on many of those proposals and I hope this is not really the case.

And I begin to try and compete with my Noble Friend Lady Evans who so ably ran that free schools program, so far as my own experience is concerned it is limited to my group opening one primary school from Pimlico Academy because we believe strongly in education and the broader education, subject specific education for primary school was and where that can be delivered efficiently in our primary schools that is to exclusively tune children in state schools.

The Noble Lady will be aware that there academies were appointed by the previous Government to run the Latin excellence program of £4 million contract to print Latin to 40 state schools across the country who were not previously teaching it, something that we were doing. Sadly, this Government binned that program which is because the students love it, it helps them greatly with their grammar and their thinking skills. And I often say noble Lords may be interested to know that this summer on the Latin GCSE results, a subject which is thought to be very difficult, 48% of pupils at the Academy that took Latin GCSE got a grade 9.

So far as free schools are concerned, I would like to add that I understand that there are over 50 special and a free schools which were approved prior to October last. We desperately need more special schools in this country and I would ask the Noble Lady the Minister kindly to tell me how many of these are now planned to actually of these are now planned to actually open and how many are not, and if she can't do that today I understand she might not be able to do so, perhaps she could kindly write to me with the answer.

Considering my Noble Friend amendment about auditing local authority schools, the specialists taking over specialist school, mainly for local authorities. I have been struck in many cases, most cases, by the very prospect of financial control of schools, generally when a school is failing educationally, financially, not just because of forming roles but also because of poor financial An annual audit seems to me an absolute must in the case of local absolute must in the case of local
17:46
17:47
Baroness Smith of Malvern Portrait Baroness Smith of Malvern, Minister of State (Education) (Labour)
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Turning to group 3 which relates to the opening of new schools including new maintained schools including new maintained schools academies and free schools but not the noble Lords amendment about local elections, so I won't respond to that. I turn 1st to clause 57 which relates to how new schools are opened and which the noble Lady Baroness Barran opposes extending part of the bill. Clause 57 and is the legal presumption that new schools should be Academy schools.

It requires local authorities to invite proposals for both academies and other types of school when they think a new school should be established and gives them the option to put forward their own proposals for new schools. The current system only allows current authorities to propose new schools as a last resort or in very limited circumstances. Local authorities hold the statutory responsibility to secure sufficient school places in area and it is right that we give them greater ability to fulfil that duty effectively.

These changes will enable consideration of any offer which meets the needs of children and families. I turn to amendment 480 tabled by the noble Baroness baron which relates to the opening of projects in the free schools pipeline. I do understand the noble Ladies desire and the passion and enthusiasm of the noble Lord Lord enthusiasm of the noble Lord Lord Harris who, as others have said, has played an enormously important role in improving the quality of schools for many of the children who need it the most.

To ensure the approved free school projects in as planned. I know that trusts and local authorities commit significant time and energy to support these projects. But noble Lords will also understand the need to consider carefully the use of a limited amount of school capital and agreeing this amendment would commit the Secretary of State to opening all projects in the current pipeline regardless of whether they are still needed or represent value for money. That is the reason why the department is giving careful consideration to these proposals in relation to the need for places.

The value for money. And the extent to which they provided distinctive local offer. It would be wrong to spend funding on new schools that cannot be financially viable while existing schools urgently need that funding to improve the condition of their buildings. Turning next to amendment 481 tabled by the noble Lord Lord Agnew, this would require local authority maintained schools to have an annual external audit. I think I would just want to clarify in relation to the noble Lords contribution that the noble Lord was wrong to state that maintained schools don't have to publish salaries over £100,000 and they don't have to submit three year budget plans.

Those requirements were introduced by the last government in 2021 following a consultation put out by the noble Lord as a minister. He's had more of an impact than he realises. I do nevertheless understand the points about the noble Lord was making about the responsibility on all school leaders to ensure that public money is being spent as effectively as possible in order to maximise the amount, but the government doesn't believe it is necessary to mandate or maintain schools to have an annual external audit, maintained school accounts to form part of local authority accounts, a sample will be given as part of the authority audit process.

At any maintained school that wants a separate audit has the right to commission one. We can argue about whether or not, as the noble Lord has suggested, auditing would save money, but we are clear about how much it would cost. They can cost £5000 or more. The cost of separate audits for all maintained schools would be at least £100 million a year. Turning now to amendment tabled in the name of the noble Lord. The noble Lord didn't propose it.

I hope given the explanations that other noble Lords for feel able

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to withdraw their amendments. I accept what she says about the

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I accept what she says about the proposal for being properly interrogated et cetera, but it has now been nearly a year and if she has alluded to the fact that some of the issues may be around funding, at the very least, could she commit to contacting the schools all the groups who have put forward groups who have put forward proposals to give them an update? In some cases it is the not knowing and the not hearing that is the most the not hearing that is the most frustrating for them, so perhaps you could at least do that because it could at least do that because it does seem to be a huge amount of work to do this, and there will be work to do this, and there will be parents as Billy wanted to know if schools will open so even if she cannot tell us today, perhaps we can cannot tell us today, perhaps we can commit to some further information to those that are within the to those that are within the pipeline as that would be a move forward from their perspective.

forward from their perspective.

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I want the trust to have certainty for their products as soon as possible, and we will provide an update on next steps to trust local authorities in due course and I am sure that others within the department have had the reasonable points made by the Minister.
17:53
Baroness Barran Portrait Baroness Barran (Conservative)
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I am slightly surprised by the noble Baroness the Ministers response in this group. In relation to the changes proposed by clause 57, she repeated the point set out in the policy summary document about the importance of local authorities being able to meet their sufficiency duty, but she didn't give us any examples or any data to suggest that there had been instances where there had been unable to meet their sufficiency duty because of a lack of suitable applications, so if I may, I think I will repeat my request that the noble Lady writes to me and sets out exactly how often that has happened over the last five years year by year so we can get a picture of what this problem really picture of what this problem really is.

She gave the house no reflection on the capacity of local authorities to be able to deliver new free schools. No reflection on the conflict-of-interest in this policy and no real recognition of the contribution of free schools which, as we had from my noble friend, done really great work, particularly in narrowing disadvantaged gaps. And as my noble friend Lord Nash said in relation to the importance of the Latin for excellence programme, these schools have often been pioneers in raising the aspiration of children through the curriculum that they offer, and as we debated, and I quoted last week on the debate on the curriculum, this is about opening doors for children and not moving the destination closer to them but building the bridge so they can get to that destination.

And in relation to my noble friend Lord Agnew's amendment 481, I think it is good that the noble Lady has a figure on the cost. I'm sure my noble friend could negotiate that down given half a chance, but I think the real point is the one he made that, in his trust, they have been unable to unlock funding which gives three hours more a week to the children in the trust, or a year more of education, and for the government to accept that there is an invisibility and the probable financial inefficiency in local authority schools.

I think that does the children in those schools are real disservice, but with that, I

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beg leave to withdraw my amendments. The question is that clause 57

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The question is that clause 57 status part of the bill. The contents have it. The question is contents have it. The question is that clauses 58, 59 and 60 stand part of the bell. The contents have part of the bell. The contents have it. The question is that schedule four will be the fourth schedule to four will be the fourth schedule to the bill. The contents have it. The question is that clauses 61 and 62 question is that clauses 61 and 62 stand part of the bill.

The contents have it. After clause 62, and then have it. After clause 62, and then 458, not moved. Since 458 has not been moved, I cannot call for been moved, I cannot call for hundred and 58 a since it was a hundred and 58 a since it was a substitution for 458. And then 459, Baroness Barran.

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This is a very important group of amendments as it seeks to understand the government's attitude to behaviour in our schools and in behaviour in our schools and in particular how to balance the rights of children who have either been excluded or have committed acts of violence with those of the rights of other pupils in the classroom as well as how best to address bullying in schools. My amendment 459 aims to bring clarity about acts of violence or threats of violence to school staff.

People should understand that any such act will be referred to the police. We have made it clear that this is not intended to criminalise children we just believe it would children we just believe it would help reset expectations regarding behaviour and give children services important information about those pupils, and I do recognise of course that pupils, that schools know their pupils very well and are able to exercise their professional judgement, but even with that, we are concerned that there might be pressure on the government to move to a position such as we've seen in Scotland to reduce the use of exclusions and suspensions.

Noble Lords will be aware of the disastrous impact of the Scottish government's policies in this area which have led to violent assaults on teachers by pupils. More recently, the Mayor of London has launched an inclusion charter to reduce suspensions and at an event last week, the Mayor of Greater Manchester suggested that he would like to see all pupil referral units abolished. Head Teachers need and deserve reassurance that they will be backed to exclude or suspend when necessary and the presumption will always be that the rate of these strategies should not be considered to be too high unless there is good reason to think otherwise.

The correct rate of exclusion is when necessary. It is not as low as we can make it, and my amendment 502 YY A6 to clarify this. We are really concerned about the impact of councils pursuing zero exclusion policies either directly or indirectly by asking schools to sign up to reduction charters or similar. Such policies create an implicit expectation that Head Teachers should not exclude which would be frankly disastrous for the pupils and staff who have to face the Similar to intensive-care or senior hospitals where the students presenting the most challenge receive the high-intensity support receive the high-intensity support and the boundaries that they so gladly need.

To reduce these vital institutions would condemn schools to enormous violence and chaos and damage the very children that they no longer access them. Experts in this field tell me that such naivete of strategy indicates the unfamiliarity of those that they have on the challenges of working with these children. Rather we need to learn from the best people referral units and alternative provision schools to ensure that pupils do attend and when they are there they get a full day of education because they need that structure and support perhaps more than the average child.

Concerns about the shift with senior leaders in the Labour Party such as the two I have cited earlier explain why we put down amendments 502 while the end 502 down amendments 502 while the end 502YW. Which would make the presumption that pupils that have committed serious misbehaviour including violence and sexual assault and those that have been permanently excluded twice from mainstream schools would not be reinstated in the mainstream school. Mainstream schools can and do movement and is but they cannot perform miracles.

Children whose needs exceed mainstream capacity, mainstream budgets, and mainstream systems cannot thrive in a mainstream environment. Any more than a surgical patient can obtain the treatment they need in a GP surgery. Nonmainstream environments are vital support mechanisms to help children to turn their lives around in the specialist setting. It is not a failure of mainstream that these children are approved in the AP environment any more than it is a failure on our position to cure cataracts.

It is a positive movement, not a negative one, and again we see the innocent but dangerous unfamiliarity with the reality of these children's lives in the woods of those that seek to make mainstream every child regardless of how extreme their behaviours are. Balancing the rights of those small number of pupils who threaten the safety of the classroom and that much larger group that need a calm environment to focus on learning is not easy. We do need to improve and expand the quality and quantity of alternative provision, but we also need to uphold the rights of the majority and that is what these amendments in to do.

Building a whole school systems above a preferential treatment and the minority of violent and chaotic children and the expense of the vast majority of children who are also potentially vulnerable, who also deserve dignity, safety, and a calm learning environment is an insult for the governance and ironically helps that child. Every child matters which means that every child matters equally. Amendments 502 while and 502 YY would require the Secretary of State to publish an annual report on the impact of behaviour on both teacher recruitment and pupil attainment.

We are very keen to see the annual behaviour survey being continued. The former minister in The Other Place was not clear in committee without not this would be the case, so I would be grateful if the noble Baroness the Minister could confirm that it will be continued today. We know from a range of different poles including teacher tap that behaviour is one of the biggest factors driving teachers out of the profession. For pupils it is crucial with the last behaviour survey showing that on average 1/4 of learning time is lost to poor behaviour.

That is the equivalent to 44 days I get. It is crucial as real visibility on this issue. As the founder of step lab wrote, just communicating expectations is rarely sufficient. Behaviour must be taught, not just told. And helping students achieve behaviour for success is not just good for safety and learning. It is vital for equity also. My Noble Friend is Lord Nash, Lord Bailey, will also speak to our amendment 502 YF stop we know that there is rightly great caution about permanently excluding a pupil, so before that if a child that was permanently excluded automatically qualifies in my language to be a child in need, then it would offer some automatic protection and support to that child.

The fact that a pupil cannot study effectively in a mainstream school does not mean they are not worthy of support. Quite the reverse. As I have already said, we need to see the best alternative provision pupil referral units developed further, but this amendment would provide those children with the timely support to ensure the services and other local services. Although there is some brilliant alternative provision does not typically offer the full school day and these are just the pupils that are most at risk of abuse and exploitation were so our amendment would seek to give the local

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authority ability to seek these pupils. I beg to move. And proposed article 32 insert

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the new clause as printed on the Marshall list. I rise to Echo the Noble Lady Baroness Barran's words, Head Teachers need and deserve
18:06
Lord Hampton Portrait Lord Hampton (Crossbench)
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reassurance that they could be backed to exclude or suspend where necessary. I would also like to pass on the experience of a Head Teacher who recently told me that he had to permanently exclude to pupils that had set school on fire. If they have successfully moved back. I now have the rather bizarre situation of speaking against an amendment that I put my name to. Number 459. As a teacher I thought this amendment was eminently sensible, given the fact that the police would still be able to decide whether or not to act.

But I found out it is more complicated than that. The executive principal of the trust says and I quote I of the trust says and I quote I agree that on the face of it this appears eminently sensible as one would think it is vital to ensure that all services are alerted to ensure that the perpetrator and victim are offered necessary support. Given that the police services in the safeguarding laws alongside the council and healthcare then police should be alerted and equally responsible for the welfare and safeguarding of children.

An act of violence against an adult in the school environment is, in itself, a safeguarding issue. However, I am dismayed that once again no duty is placed on them to respond or act. So, in the absence of a collegiate approach, I worry this will become just another duty free teaching officials with no duty posed on those services. I must emphasise this should not become yet another safeguarding duty placed on the shoulders of schools with schools being potentially penalised if an act is not reported.

Reporting to the police is very likely to erode the trust between child's at home and school. This is only with risking if there is a definite response and support from the police for the child and family. My question is why the professional judgement of educators is deemed to be less worthy in the professional judgement of the police. I.e. Educators have a statutory duty to report and must always support but social care and the police have no statutory duty to support when a report is made.

Victor Hughes, Chief Executive of the trust gives a clear, and I quote, this bill is in danger of treating schools as if they are full of idiots, without the ability to make sensible decisions. Schools as a second-class citizen in the safeguarding arena spend more time with children in the other safeguarding partners combined. There the only service that is in loco parentis 190 days a year from the age of four to 18. Like any good parent we need to make judgements about what is in the best interests of children.

Balanced against society, and the other members of our family, students, and staff. I would ask that we are afforded that

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right. I support Lord Storey's amendment 501 and will speak to amendment 464 in my name and those of the Right Reverend Pollard. The Noble Lord born of Aberystwyth and the noble
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18:12
Lord Nash Portrait Lord Nash (Conservative)
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I rise to speak to amendment 58 rise to speak to amendment 582F in my name in the name of my Noble my name in the name of my Noble Friends Lady Barran to require an assessment when a child is permanently excluded. The reason for this is that in my experience there is a risk that without an adequate handover or adequate liaison between the school and the society there is a risk that the pupil disappears into a blackhole on the thankfully a few I have sat on we really do not like excluding pupils I have always hated that not just in its own right but because they just disappear from view.

In my view, schools should continue to have some involvement, if not responsibility to ensure that they receive adequate provision. As things stand, they have no say in where children go. Often because the local authority has an arrangement or a contract with one or two AP provider such that there are no other options. And, of course, in some areas, the providers have the capacity. And as I have said that is where we get such a provision. I would like to see schools with a greater involvement in this and I understand the key that there is a model were about a dozen schools, secondary schools, cooperate well on this and this could perhaps be a model for the future.

I also support amendments in the name of the baroness Aron in this group, poor behaviour by a few students has a dramatic effect on the school. The teachers spend a disproportionate amount of time dealing with if you pupils that exhibit very poor behaviour and are increasingly acting as social workers. We must protect the other pupils in the school and allowed the teachers. There comes a time when the disruption this causes to other pupils and teachers means it is necessary to exclude certain pupils.
18:14
Lord Bishop of Chelmsford Portrait The Lord Bishop of Chelmsford (Bishops)
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I rise to speak in support of amendment number 464. Knowing that had mirrored honourable friend that Bishop of Lincoln been in his place he would very much have contributed to the debate. If passed, this amendment will introduce a duty on schools to record and report any incidents of racism or faith-based bullying on school premises. It would also help boards of education in collating and monitoring such cases and better assisting those church schools that might benefit from support.

In preparing for this speech, I spoke to our own director in Chelmsford classes whose team oversees 139 church schools. She told me that this proposed amendment had the potential to help the Board of Education strengthen anti- bullying and inclusive practices in Every child deserves to feel safe but racist in faith-based bullying as a significant driver hind school exclusions. A report published by the difference and the IPPR revealed that black Caribbean children are 1 1/2 times more likely than the national population to find themselves permanently excluded from schools.

Irish traveller children are three times more likely and Romani or gypsy and Roma children are four times more likely. Last November, the traveller movement published its Fort not taught report which traced examples of coercive exclusions from school settings. The organisation defines institutionally coerced exclusion as a situation in which a school setting either through action or inaction becomes a toxic environment with conditions that make it untenable or unsafe for a child to remain enrolled. To name one example, the traveller movement's research has revealed that tragically, 67% of young gypsies and travellers in London have experienced bullying from teachers that they felt was directly linked to their ethnicity.

And in relation to that, I should say that my right Rev friend the Bishop of Lincoln will host the launch of the traveller movement's follow-up publication on Thursday, 23 September in your Lordships house. Tell Mama or measuring anti Muslim attacks as an independent and confidential support service to record incidents of Islamophobia in the UK. Between 2023 and 2024, there was a 43% increase in the number of reported hate crimes targeting Muslims. 10% of these incidents occurred in a place of education.

To make matters worse, parents often feel that their concerns have ignored due to a lack of formal mechanisms for accountability. Maintaining a clear record of incidents is the first step towards building trust and fostering more collaborative partnerships between parents, schools, and local authorities. However, this amendment takes one step further. The collective safety and well-being of all pupils, educational environments must be prepared to take concrete action to address and crucially prevent racism. By requiring schools to record actions taken in response when incidents do occur, we should ensure that actively antiracist practised in our school is the expectation not the exception.

In 2021, the Archbishop's antiracism task force published from lament to action which set out recommendations to eradicate racism in the Church of England. Education surfaced as a priority area for action with commitments to ensure racial justice features as a core element of curriculum, staff training and school assemblies. There is of course much more work to be done but this would enable us to make long overdue progress. overdue progress.
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18:21
Lord Carlile of Berriew Portrait Lord Carlile of Berriew (Crossbench)
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Arise in relation to amendment 502 EE which is in my name, but before I do, can I say that I entirely agree with what was said by Lord Addington. In the numerous safeguarding and similar cases where I have been involved as a lawyer, it is the failure to share information that causes a huge amount of damage and often leads to that cycle, the revolving door of children going in and out of school that leaves many of them to go into custody for crime when they are not very old.

I turned to my amendment 502 EE, and that isn't on complicated attempts to provide consistent standards and process in the way in which individual schools focus on bullying. I'm grateful to the anti- bullying alliance for providing me with information on this subject. The truth of the matter is that huge numbers of children are bullied, and we see it every day. A few days ago, I was on a bus in North London at the time when children are just going home from school.

And there were three noisy normal-looking 11 or 12-year-olds on the bus laughing and pointing through the window at something, and I realise that a pointing at another boy who was actually the largest of the group who was on the pavement and I deduced that they had tripped that boy into getting off the bus at the wrong bus stop and then had got back on themselves and off the bus went on a laughing at the disconsolate fourth boy as the bus passed him by on the pavement.

It was a small example of bullying but what I saw was evidence possibly at least of a much larger bullying issue relating to that fourth child. It is a heartbreaking reality that only one in five children and young people report being bullied each year, and that figure comes from the office of National statistics. It is a perverse issue which not only disrupts their childhoods, the mental-health, and their education, but its repercussions can persist well into adulthood and many of us know people who have been affected by bullying, particularly at school which they suffer from at a very young age.

There is plenty of evidence that children who are bullied are significantly more likely to suffer from mental health issues. I used to be the chair of the mental health charity called and action and now called we are with you which has to deal with many, many people who, among them multiple and often complex issues have suffered from bullying when they are young. Either at school or possibly in the home. And children who are bullied often miss school. They have a very poor sense of belonging and achieve poorer academic results.

Parents learned that their children are being bullied but they don't know how to deal with it because they are not given any real guidance in their schools as to how to approach the school or as to what the school will do if their child is bullied. The effects of bullying are even more pronounced among children with special educational needs about whom we should be talking soon in another group. Children in poverty, young carers, care experience young people and other at-risk groups, and it really doesn't have to be this way.

My suggestion is that something like my very straightforward amendment 502 EE would at least ensure that schools had a consistent approach to those issues. So, what I respectfully suggest the Minister is that in pursuant of their duties, Head Teachers are relevant schools in England should appoint a member of staff who is simply the schools anti-bullying lead, just as they have leads in the six form and on individual subject heads. The primary role of the anti-bullying league should be to develop the schools individual anti-bullying strategy, and that anti-bullying strategy should include details of the steps being taken by the school to prevent bullying in all its forms among pupils, including of course those with protected characteristics.

There should be a standard way of recording incidences of bullying just as there are standard and required ways of recording incidences of injury at school. And there should be staff training available for all staff related to bullying. I would submit my Lords that this amendment is just common sense which would make a significant contribution to the way in which bullying is dealt with at

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school to the advantage of children. I want to support my noble

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I want to support my noble friends amendments but I want to friends amendments but I want to follow on from what the noble prelate said about racism. Racism
18:26
Baroness Verma Portrait Baroness Verma (Conservative)
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prelate said about racism. Racism has been rife in schools from as far back as I can remember. But at that time, social media wasn't there to inflame it further. And over recent years, it has not just become racism on colour but also about religion and the noble prelate mentioned Islamophobia but if I can tell you that most underreported acts of religion, bullying against faith is not always Islamophobia. People from my community enjoy it quietly, and where do they report it when often as not it is the most misunderstood way of bullying.

I've had parents come to me and say that children have told them that they will burn in hell, that if they don't change their faith, this will happen. We have got to find solutions that involve not just the teachers because the teachers have got more than enough to do already. We need to make sure first of all what we say and do is actually reasonable but secondly, families cannot be abdicated from their duties of what happens in and out of school.

They need to be part of the solution because often as not, unfortunately, we have a lot of dysfunctional families, not by choice, but just often by the economics of everything. And we have to find ways that every child is able to go to school knowing that they are going to be learning like every other child and not fearful of going. I grew up in a fearful atmosphere. But fearful atmosphere is back, and it is back even more now than ever before and amplified by social media.

So, to my noble friends amendments, yes, of course the police do have a duty and so do local authorities. They need to be the support mechanisms, not be standing on the sidelines waiting to be offering help. They should be intrinsic in the plans of making sure we can respond to the needs of children that come with problems, not of their making mostly but of their surroundings and their environment but we shouldn't make excuses. We should not make excuses that are acceptable and that everything should be on the teachers.

I don't think it is fair. I also don't think they are well enough equipped, and I also think that, as a child who went through that miserable time at school, knowing what bullying is like and dreading to go into school in case you are going to be beaten up by the next skinhead around the corner, I didn't become a bully. I became resilient and we've got to make sure that resilience is part of the teaching of our children.
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