Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to make an assessment of the adequacy of school policies on (a) religious practices and (b) inclusivity.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
There is currently no legal requirement for schools to allow their pupils time within the school day to pray upon request, nor are they required to provide any pupil with a physical space, such as a prayer room, to conduct their prayers. It is a matter for individual schools and headteachers to make a decision that is in the interest of their pupils. It is important when considering any requests relating to prayer that they do so in the context of the Equality Act 2010, and their public sector equality duty.
Under the Equality Act 2010 schools must not discriminate against a pupil in a number of respects because of a characteristic protected by the Act, including religion or belief. State-funded schools are also subject to the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED). All children and young people must be treated fairly and supported to thrive and reach their potential within a respectful environment.
The department has published guidance for schools on how to comply with their duties under the Equality Act 2010, which can be found online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/equality-act-2010-advice-for-schools. This includes specific advice on religion or belief.
The PSED was introduced in section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 and places a legal obligation on public authorities to consider how their policy or service decisions impacts differently on individuals. The department as a public body is required to give due regard to PSED in its decision making. According to the PSED, a public authority must, in the exercise of its functions, have due regard to the need to:
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to (a) monitor and (b) tackle potential discrimination in schools against students based on their religious practices.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
There is currently no legal requirement for schools to allow their pupils time within the school day to pray upon request, nor are they required to provide any pupil with a physical space, such as a prayer room, to conduct their prayers. It is a matter for individual schools and headteachers to make a decision that is in the interest of their pupils. It is important when considering any requests relating to prayer that they do so in the context of the Equality Act 2010, and their public sector equality duty.
Under the Equality Act 2010 schools must not discriminate against a pupil in a number of respects because of a characteristic protected by the Act, including religion or belief. State-funded schools are also subject to the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED). All children and young people must be treated fairly and supported to thrive and reach their potential within a respectful environment.
The department has published guidance for schools on how to comply with their duties under the Equality Act 2010, which can be found online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/equality-act-2010-advice-for-schools. This includes specific advice on religion or belief.
The PSED was introduced in section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 and places a legal obligation on public authorities to consider how their policy or service decisions impacts differently on individuals. The department as a public body is required to give due regard to PSED in its decision making. According to the PSED, a public authority must, in the exercise of its functions, have due regard to the need to:
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance her Department issues to schools on balancing inclusivity and religious freedoms.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
There is currently no legal requirement for schools to allow their pupils time within the school day to pray upon request, nor are they required to provide any pupil with a physical space, such as a prayer room, to conduct their prayers. It is a matter for individual schools and headteachers to make a decision that is in the interest of their pupils. It is important when considering any requests relating to prayer that they do so in the context of the Equality Act 2010, and their public sector equality duty.
Under the Equality Act 2010 schools must not discriminate against a pupil in a number of respects because of a characteristic protected by the Act, including religion or belief. State-funded schools are also subject to the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED). All children and young people must be treated fairly and supported to thrive and reach their potential within a respectful environment.
The department has published guidance for schools on how to comply with their duties under the Equality Act 2010, which can be found online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/equality-act-2010-advice-for-schools. This includes specific advice on religion or belief.
The PSED was introduced in section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 and places a legal obligation on public authorities to consider how their policy or service decisions impacts differently on individuals. The department as a public body is required to give due regard to PSED in its decision making. According to the PSED, a public authority must, in the exercise of its functions, have due regard to the need to:
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance her Department issues to non-religious schools on enforcing policies that restrict (a) prayer and (b) other religious practices.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
There is currently no legal requirement for schools to allow their pupils time within the school day to pray upon request, nor are they required to provide any pupil with a physical space, such as a prayer room, to conduct their prayers. It is a matter for individual schools and headteachers to make a decision that is in the interest of their pupils. It is important when considering any requests relating to prayer that they do so in the context of the Equality Act 2010, and their public sector equality duty.
Under the Equality Act 2010 schools must not discriminate against a pupil in a number of respects because of a characteristic protected by the Act, including religion or belief. State-funded schools are also subject to the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED). All children and young people must be treated fairly and supported to thrive and reach their potential within a respectful environment.
The department has published guidance for schools on how to comply with their duties under the Equality Act 2010, which can be found online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/equality-act-2010-advice-for-schools. This includes specific advice on religion or belief.
The PSED was introduced in section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 and places a legal obligation on public authorities to consider how their policy or service decisions impacts differently on individuals. The department as a public body is required to give due regard to PSED in its decision making. According to the PSED, a public authority must, in the exercise of its functions, have due regard to the need to:
Apr. 03 2024
Source Page: Section 75 Equality Screening FormFound: Section 75 Equality Screening Form
May. 01 2024
Source Page: Funding provided to Disability Equality Scotland: FOI releaseFound: Funding provided to Disability Equality Scotland: FOI release
Feb. 16 2024
Source Page: Mainstreaming gender equality in Scottish Government funded international development projects and programmes: guidance noteFound: Mainstreaming gender equality in Scottish Government funded international development projects and programmes
Mar. 28 2024
Source Page: UK Export Finance Public Sector Equality Duty Compliance: 2022-23Found: UK Export Finance Public Sector Equality Duty Compliance: 2022-23
Dec. 02 2010
Source Page: The Equality Strategy - Building a Fairer Britain. 29 p.Found: The Equality Strategy - Building a Fairer Britain. 29 p.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department has taken to ensure that there is adequate information available for the public to understand if they meet the definition of disability under the Equality Act 2010.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
It is for individual National Health Service organisations, including NHS trusts and integrated care boards, to comply with the Equality Act 2010, guidance on which is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/equality-act-2010-guidance
The act defines disability as a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on a person’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. Further information on the definition of disability according to the act can be found at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/definition-of-disability-under-equality-act-2010
No assessment has been made of the potential merits of issuing guidance to NHS England on the categorisation of disability. NHS England has issued guidance for NHS commissioners on equality and health inequalities legal duties. It has also issued guidance with respect to the Reasonable Adjustments Digital Flag (the Flag). Under the Equality Act 2010, organisations have a legal duty to make changes in their approach or provision, to ensure that services are as accessible to disabled people as they are for everybody else. These changes are called reasonable adjustments. The Flag was developed in the NHS Spine to enable health and care workers to record, share, and view details of reasonable adjustments across the NHS, wherever the person is treated. It is now accessible on the National Care Records Service, which is available at the following link:
https://digital.nhs.uk/services/national-care-records-service
The Flag is designed to provide staff with information on their duties under the Equality Act 2010. It lists existing adjustments defined by clinical codes, such as communication needs defined using the Accessible Information Standard clinical codes, which is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/accessible-information-standard-implementation-guidance/
It also provides the opportunity to create highly individualised bespoke adjustments for patients. The service holds records for all patients in England who have been flagged as needing reasonable adjustments. A record is created for a patient when a health or social care worker first records the patient's reasonable adjustments.
The Flag provides basic context about a patient, key adjustments, and the details related to this and further information to aid health and care workers. This legal duty is anticipatory, which means a service should know about a person’s need for adjustments when they are referred or present for care. For this to happen, and for optimum care to be delivered, adjustments need to be recorded and shared across the NHS. The Flag can also record if a patient meets the Equality Act definition of disability, which is an impairment with substantial and long-term adverse effect on normal day to day activity. It can also optionally contain details of the disability or long term condition that is the source of the patient’s impairment, in line with the Equality Act 2010 guidance. The impairment type list in the guidance shows the impairment types that can be recorded.