Speech in Lords Chamber - Mon 23 May 2022
Schools Bill [HL]
"My Lords, I wish to address two aspects of this Bill, both of which concern the role of religion in the education of children. I draw the attention of the House to the fact that I am the co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Humanist Group—although the comments I will make …..."Baroness Bakewell - View Speech
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Speech in Lords Chamber - Mon 29 Apr 2019
Religious Schools: Admission Policies
"To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of religious schools’ admission policies on those schools...."Baroness Bakewell - View Speech
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Speech in Lords Chamber - Mon 29 Apr 2019
Religious Schools: Admission Policies
"I thank the Minister for that Answer. Fifty-two per cent of British adults identify themselves as having no religion, and 53% of rural primary schools are faith schools. Almost three in 10 families in England live in areas where most or all of the closest primary schools are faith schools. …..."Baroness Bakewell - View Speech
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Written Question
Wednesday 27th February 2019
Asked by:
Baroness Bakewell (Labour - Life peer)
Question
to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans, if any, they have to ensure that children within the catchment area of a school with 100 per cent religious intake are not disadvantaged in the choice of schools available to them.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The government is committed to offering parents and children a diverse education system consisting of a wide variety of schools, and this includes faith schools.
Parents are able to express a preference for at least 3 schools they would like their child to attend and, subject to very limited exceptions, local authorities and school admission authorities must comply with that preference. However, where a school receives more applications than it has places available, places must be allocated in accordance with the school’s published oversubscription criteria.
It is for the admission authority of individual schools to decide which oversubscription criteria are most suitable for their school, according to the local circumstances.
Admission authorities of schools with a religious designation can choose to adopt faith-based oversubscription criteria. However, some faith schools choose to only allocate a proportion of their places with reference to faith, and some do not apply any faith criteria at all. Where a faith school has places available, it must admit all applicants, without reference to faith.
Anyone who believes that a school’s admission arrangements are unfair or unlawful may make an objection the Schools Adjudicator.
Speech in Grand Committee - Mon 17 Dec 2018
Religious Education
"My Lords, this is a splendid report, and the Government’s response is feeble. The report commands our admiration for its range and thoroughness. It took two years and heard a lot of submissions. It is extremely good: broad-based, understanding and tolerant. The Secretary of State said that religious education is …..."Baroness Bakewell - View Speech
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Speech in Lords Chamber - Thu 01 Nov 2018
Children: Welfare, Life Chances and Social Mobility
"My Lords, I too thank the noble Baroness, Lady Massey, for bringing this debate to the House; it has already attracted a swathe of impressive expertise. In deference to her status as a published novelist, I will take a different point of view. Tolstoy’s opening sentence of Anna Karenina is …..."Baroness Bakewell - View Speech
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Speech in Lords Chamber - Mon 06 Mar 2017
Higher Education and Research Bill
"My Lords, I, too, support the amendment. We need to have a status of title that puts universities and higher education in an elevated place in our society. We know that “students” comes trailing clouds of all sorts of other implications that may not be appropriate. Education and universities are …..."Baroness Bakewell - View Speech
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Speech in Lords Chamber - Mon 06 Mar 2017
Higher Education and Research Bill
"I wish to support the amendment for its reference to,
“including those with experience of part-time, adult and distance learning”.
I support it in the light of the changing demographics, which are probably more extreme than people realise in this country. We can now expect anyone born today to have …..."Baroness Bakewell - View Speech
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Speech in Lords Chamber - Wed 11 Jan 2017
Higher Education and Research Bill
"My Lords, I support this amendment and Amendments 32, 41, 46 and 172, to the latter of which my name is attached. I have already spoken on this issue several times, as it is of pressing importance to me. I am president of Birkbeck, which caters for part-time study. However, …..."Baroness Bakewell - View Speech
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Speech in Lords Chamber - Mon 09 Jan 2017
Higher Education and Research Bill
"I support my noble friend Lord Lipsey in deploring this title. Words are significant. My noble friend mentioned George Orwell. He knew how slippery language can be. In the fake news and post-truth era, getting words exact matters more than ever. We know that in the light of the Bill …..."Baroness Bakewell - View Speech
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