Ofsted Review of Sexual Abuse in Schools and Colleges

Debate between Baroness Gale and Baroness Berridge

Thursday 17th June 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Berridge (Con)]

My Lords, on the cultural points my noble friend references, schools are reflecting wider society so he is right that we need to recognise that there is a role for everyone. The guidance is really clear that safeguarding in a school is everyone’s responsibility. Everyone should be given chapter 1 of KCS and they all should read it, and that means the cleaner and the caterers as well as the teaching staff. There should be an environment within a school where a young person can share with any appropriate adult, and they should know what their obligations are. The guidance is really clear that school staff—whoever they are—should never assume that something has already been reported and it is someone else’s responsibility.

Schools know that they are going to be inspected on this. One of the four pillars of the Ofsted 2019 framework is very clearly around safeguarding. Each pillar stands and is assessed separately, so if you are inadequate for safeguarding you will fail an Ofsted inspection regardless of your educational performance. That is really important for those schools, some of which were named by Everyone’s Invited, that have very good educational records and yet have been found by reports on Everyone’s Invited to be lacking in terms of culture, particularly in respect of girls.

As Minister for the Schools System, I can say that sharing best practice is what the multi-academy trust system is all about. It enables groups of schools to have robust safeguarding training and safeguarding leads that share best practice and concerns regarding pupils as they move from one phase of education to another.

[Baroness Gale (Lab) [V]]

Does the Minister agree that more work needs to be undertaken to discover the root cause of why boys are showing such contempt and disrespect towards girls, as sexual abuse and harassment against girls seems to be out of control? I mention girls particularly as the majority are girls, although we know that some boys can be affected as well.

In the last few days, I have been speaking to girls I know very well and asked them about this. I was quite shocked at what they told me. It starts at high school, and it goes on through university and beyond. I said, “Well, how often does it happen?” The reply was, “Every time we go out.” That is what girls have to put up with.

I was going to ask the Minister if she was aware that the Welsh Government have recently agreed to undertake a similar review, but my noble friend Lady Wilcox mentioned this. So, will the Minister agree to work with the devolved Administrations to develop a comprehensive programme to ensure that girls and young women can feel safe in education, wherever they live or study?

[Baroness Berridge (Con)]

My Lords, the Everyone’s Invited platform and the subsequent review by Ofsted reveal that there has been a normalisation—mainly by girls—and acceptance of certain behaviours that are actually unacceptable. We have got a task on our hands to unpick how that is happening, how that behaviour is being exhibited in the first place and how they are then accepting that it is normal or acceptable behaviour, when it is not.

One of the main planks we have introduced is the RSHE curriculum, which will explore issues around consent and will hopefully give young people an understanding of what is and is not a healthy relationship —between adult and child as well as peer on peer— although this may take some time to embed with young people. Other noble Lords have mentioned teacher training. Time is being set inside on an Inset day, because obviously, you need to train the entire workforce as quickly as possible in relation to these cultural issues.

Women in Elected Office

Debate between Baroness Gale and Baroness Berridge

Monday 8th March 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Gale]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to increase the number of women holding elected office in the United Kingdom.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Education and Department for International Trade (Baroness Berridge) (Con)]

My Lords, we have more women MPs than ever before, making up 34% of the other place, and 35% of local councillors are women. But we must ensure that women have an equal voice in the decisions that affect them. The Government cannot mandate who political parties select as candidates, and it is for them to ensure that their selection processes are responsive to known barriers and lead the way in improving women’s representation—especially today, on International Women’s Day.

[Baroness Gale (Lab) [V]]

Does the Minister agree with me that the barriers which prevent women seeking elected office include abuse and discrimination, as well as elected institutions being seen as unfriendly to women? Will she commit to doing all she can to ensure that the sunset clause of the Sex Discrimination (Election Candidates) Act 2002, allowing an all-women shortlist, is extended beyond 2030, and that Section 106 of the Equality Act 2010 is implemented? This would go some way to ensuring that our elected institutions look like the people they represent.

[Baroness Berridge (Con)]

My Lords, the Government keep all the uncommenced sections of the Equality Act under review, and in the run up to 2030, I am sure that there will be a review of whether to extend that. We all have a role to play when disagreement between elected representatives goes from disagreement to abuse and discrimination. We all have a role to speak out to defend our colleagues of whatever political persuasion.