Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that guidance to schools reflects case law protecting freedom of religion and Christian expression, including that offence or complaint alone is insufficient to justify restricting lawful Christian beliefs.

The government is committed to ensuring that the provisions of the Equality Act 2010 are enforced to prevent discrimination against all protected characteristics, including religious belief, and to provide a legal remedy to people who may have been discriminated against.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is an independent, statutory, non-departmental public body, established to safeguard and enforce the laws that protect people’s rights to fairness, dignity and respect. The EHRC is independent from the government and makes its own operational decisions, including on the content of its guidance.