Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Agnew of Oulton on 16 January (HL157), whether they assess what is being taught in madrasas in the UK; if so, how; and what plans they have to introduce inspections for such schools.

As stated in my answer of 16 January, religious settings such as madrasas would generally be considered an out-of-school setting. As a large and diverse sector these settings are not captured by a single dedicated regulatory framework; and as such, are not subject to assessment or inspection by the department or Ofsted.

There are currently a number of legal powers in place to protect children attending these settings – for example, child protection legislation, health and safety and fire safety law – and there are no plans by the department, at this time, to introduce a new system of regulation or inspection of these settings.

However, the department is taking forward a package of measures aimed at enhancing the safeguarding of children in this sector. This includes a £3 million pilot scheme outlined in my previous response, which will be used to inform the development of best practice on how existing legal powers, held by local authorities and other agencies, can best be used to identify and intervene in out-of-school settings of concern. This work started in summer 2018 and is due to conclude in March 2020.

Alongside this, we have also been developing a voluntary code of practice for out-of-school setting providers to support them to understand what they need to do to run a safe setting. There is accompanying guidance for parents and carers to help them make more informed choices when considering out-of-school settings for their children, as well as understanding the steps they can take where they have concerns. We consulted on these documents last year and will respond and publish the final guidance in due course. The consultation can be found here: https://consult.education.gov.uk/regulatory-framework-unit/out-of-school-settings-voluntary-safeguarding-code/.