Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what progress Ofsted has made on the (1) registration, (2) regulation and (3) inspection of religious schools such as (a) madrassas, (b) yeshivas, and (c) Sunday schools where concerns have been raised about the appropriateness of the material being taught to children at such places; and what powers Ofsted has to take action, as necessary.

Out-of-school settings, such as supplementary religious schools, are not regulated under education or childcare law and are therefore not required to register with the department or Ofsted. However, the department remains committed to ensuring that children are safeguarded across all education settings and are working closely with key safeguarding partners, sector representatives, and parent groups to develop proposals for how we might further enhance safeguarding in this sector. The department will look to consult on such proposals later this year. We will be publishing updated safeguarding guidance for providers and parents, as well as a new e-learning package aimed at strengthening providers’ understanding of the arrangements they should have in place to keep children safe.

Any education setting which makes full-time provision to five or more pupils of compulsory school age (or one or more such pupils who is looked after or has an education, health and care plan), is not maintained by a local authority and is not a non-maintained special school is required to register with the department as an independent school. It is a criminal offence to conduct an educational setting which meets the definition of an independent school if this is not registered with my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education.

The government has been working proactively since 2016 to identify, investigate and, where appropriate, prosecute those operating unregistered independent schools. Between 1 January 2016 and 31 August 2022, Ofsted issued warning notices to 132 settings that may be operating as unregistered schools (this includes all settings including those with a secular or faith ethos). Of those settings, 81 changed their operation to comply with legislation, 21 closed and 16 registered. There have been six successful prosecutions against those operating unregistered schools and there are several ongoing investigations.

If safeguarding concerns are raised about a specific setting, we expect local authorities to intervene, as they are legally responsible for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children in their areas, regardless of the educational setting they attend.