Ethnicity Pay Gap

Debate between Baroness Whitaker and Baroness Barran

Thursday 25th April 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

The Government agree that it is worth while but not that it should be mandatory. We have developed clear guidance for employers and are seeking case studies from employers monitoring ethnicity pay data—but also, crucially, their diagnosis of any gaps and their action plan to address those gaps—so that other employers can benefit from their experience.

[Baroness Whitaker (Lab)]

My Lords, one of the ethnicity pay gaps is the difference in income that arises from art awards. Will the Minister join me in congratulating Delaine Le Bas, who has just been put on the Turner Prize shortlist for her art deriving from her Romani heritage, as well as the other distinguished members of the shortlist from minority-ethnic backgrounds?

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

I am delighted to celebrate with the noble Baroness.

Schools: Admissions

Debate between Baroness Whitaker and Baroness Barran

Monday 17th July 2023 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

As I tried to set out in my initial Answer, we believe that all children have equal access. Only when a school is oversubscribed can the admissions authority introduce additional restrictions. Indeed, many faith schools do not restrict on the basis of faith.

[Baroness Whitaker (Lab)]

How does the Minister respond to these remarks from a parent in Oldham who told Humanists UK that

“the 2021 Census found that those of no religion, and those of other faiths than Christianity, now form a majority of the population in our town. So it is a great injustice that one of the best schools in Oldham actively prevents local children from benefiting from its excellent teaching”?

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

If there is a specific example where the noble Baroness believes that the admissions code is not being followed by a school, I will be delighted for her to refer it to me.

Unregistered Schools

Debate between Baroness Whitaker and Baroness Barran

Wednesday 5th July 2023 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

The noble Lord raises a number of important points, and I think he would agree with me that the vast majority of religious schools deliver a safe and very valued service to the children and families they work with. But of course he is right that there will be safeguarding exceptions in every setting and every community, and we are determined to address those when legislative time allows.

[Baroness Whitaker (Lab)]

My Lords, I add to the plea for urgency by drawing attention to recent media coverage of former pupils from such settings. Some did not speak any English at school and others had no English, maths or science taught to them, only a very narrow religious curriculum. It is very important to rescue those children; surely they deserve an urgent response from the Government.

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

The Government need to strike a very delicate balance. I think we in this House would all agree that parents are ultimately responsible for ensuring that their children get a good education. Local authorities already have significant powers to check the quality of that education, and we are working closely with them and with parents, updating our guidance in this area, because we are all committed to making sure that every child has a safe and suitable education.

Free Music Education

Debate between Baroness Whitaker and Baroness Barran

Monday 12th June 2023 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Whitaker (Lab)]

Did the Minister take note of the report some years ago by Darren Henley, which gave evidence that music education opens a door to all other kinds of learning? Should not all children have this benefit?

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

I completely agree, which is why all children do have this benefit and why music education is part of the national curriculum from key stages 1 to 3.

Schools: “Ghost Children”

Debate between Baroness Whitaker and Baroness Barran

Tuesday 2nd May 2023 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

I thank my noble friend for his work in this area and I agree with him that very often persistent absence will not be the only issue that is going on in a family; therefore, the nature of family hubs is ideal to address this. The department has commissioned a team of 10 expert attendance advisers who are working with every local authority and with multi-academy trusts to help address issues of persistent absence. As part of that support, those advisers strongly recommend and encourage engagement with family hubs.

[Baroness Whitaker (Lab)]

My Lords, following the question from and answer to the Liberal Democrat Benches, the Secretary of State very helpfully replied to a letter signed by Peers all around the House saying that she would like to find the time to create a local authority register. When is that time going to be? Quite apart from home-educated children, where, as the Minister says, standards of education vary from good to non-existent, there are a large number of excluded children who make very good targets for recruitment into gangs and other criminal activities.

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

As I said, we would need primary legislation to bring in statutory registers; until a legislative opportunity is available, we will work very hard to make the voluntary registers work. There are very high rates of return from local authorities—over 90% of them are returning their data on a voluntary basis.

Schools Bill [HL]

Debate between Baroness Whitaker and Baroness Barran

Committee stage
Wednesday 22nd June 2022 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Whitaker (Lab)]

My Lords, although this amendment was scheduled to be in the last group, amendments have been moved around a bit. I am sorry I missed it.

The rationale of Amendment 143J is that attendance policies should respect protected characteristics—that is, those that are cardinal to a child’s identity and enjoin small, short absences such as for religious or other festivals or necessary travel by parents. I beg to move.

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

My Lords, the Government understand the importance of schools developing their attendance policies in a way that considers the characteristics of individual pupils, including those with protected characteristics that may mean they face greater barriers to attendance. The Equality Act 2010 protects pupils with certain characteristics, such as race, disability and religion, from discrimination in their educational setting. Schools have clear duties under the Act, and we expect them to develop all policies, including attendance policies, in line with those duties.

The department recently published attendance guidance, Working Together To Improve School Attendance, which we intend to put on a statutory footing through the Bill. In addition, through this guidance and their own Equality Act obligations, academy trust boards and governing bodies of maintained schools are expected to ensure that their schools have an attendance policy that considers their obligations under the Act.

As I believe the amendment to be unnecessary, I ask the noble Baroness to withdraw it.

[Baroness Whitaker (Lab)]

I am grateful for the Minister’s reassurance and beg leave to withdraw the amendment.

British Baccalaureate

Debate between Baroness Whitaker and Baroness Barran

Tuesday 21st June 2022 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

I think the noble Baroness has seen from the Schools Bill and from the schools White Paper what our policy is in this matter.

[Baroness Whitaker (Lab)]

I make a plea to all those also asking the Government to take the baccalaureate more seriously. I declare an interest in that my eldest son took the baccalaureate because he was really distressed by the narrowness of A-levels. One advantage which has not been mentioned is that it can be internationally reciprocally recognised, so that children who emigrate or whose parents move for a job will not have to retake extremely alien examinations. Does the Minister not think that this is an advantage worth having for our children?

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

On the international recognition of our qualifications, the noble Baroness is right. We want an outward-looking and confident group of young people who seize opportunities all around the world, but certainly A-levels are extremely well regarded internationally, and we believe that T-levels will follow.

Schools Bill [HL]

Debate between Baroness Whitaker and Baroness Barran

Committee stage & Lords Hansard - Part 2
Monday 20th June 2022 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

If I may, I will include the answer to that question in a letter to the noble Lord.

[Baroness Whitaker (Lab)]

In her very careful responses, the noble Baroness the Minister clearly recognises that there are very wide differences between the children who are not in school. Some are well educated and nobody wants to curtail that—adjustments may be made, but this is not thought to be a large percentage. An unknown number, but it is estimated to be a very large number, of children are not well educated; I suggest that the register needs to be primarily directed at these children. There are all sorts of reasons why they are not well educated. I will not go into them at this hour of the night but, for example, the schools are illegal or extreme, or the parents are at work or cannot educate the children; there are all sorts of reasons.

The Minister’s responses to our questions aimed at making the register more precise—more exactly tailored to what we all need from it while not curtailing the freedom of parents to educate their children at home well—seem mainly to relegate the details to regulations. For the reasons already given in earlier debates, there are problems with this; we have difficulty with it. However, for the time being, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.

National Tutoring Programme

Debate between Baroness Whitaker and Baroness Barran

Thursday 24th February 2022 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

It is relatively early days. I do not have those figures with me, but I am happy to share them with the House if they are available. We will obviously be evaluating the programme, but I reiterate that the vast majority of the courses have been delivered in schools by school staff, so I am surprised at the suggestion that they have not been completed.

[Baroness Whitaker (Lab)]

My Lords, what monitoring of outcomes and attainment has taken place with the current scheme? If this has happened, has it been broken down into categories, such as black and minority ethnic—including Gypsy, Traveller and Roma—disabled, girls and boys, so that we can see the real picture?

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

As I say, it is relatively early in the academic year. The programme started in September and if the noble Baroness looks at last year’s data, she will be aware that, even though there were no exams, the numbers taking these courses picked up very strongly ahead of the summer term. As I mentioned, we will be publishing the first stage of the evaluation in autumn 2022.

Covid-19: Effect on Education in Deprived Communities

Debate between Baroness Whitaker and Baroness Barran

Wednesday 23rd February 2022 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

The noble Lord is right on the principle that we need to keep close track of the impact of the measures that we have announced already. I remind the House that the interventions that we are funding with the £5 billion package are all those that have the highest evidence base to support them. They are highly targeted, both geographically and by age, and it is a multiyear package.

[Baroness Whitaker (Lab)]

My Lords, will the Minister join me in congratulating the Traveller movement on its effective and popular project of post-Covid catch-up for Gypsy, Traveller and Roma school students? How many of those have been reached with demonstrable effect by the Government’s £1 million education programme, particularly in view of the questions raised over the competence of the Randstad contracts?

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

I do not have the specific data to hand as to the number of pupils from the Traveller and Roma community, but I am happy to share that with the noble Baroness if it can be found.

Skills and Post-16 Education Bill [HL]

Debate between Baroness Whitaker and Baroness Barran

Report stage
Tuesday 12th October 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Whitaker (Lab)]

I am grateful to the Minister for her response—fairly grateful—but I had a number of other very specific questions. May I take it that she will write to me on those?

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

I had not forgotten, so I absolutely undertake to write on the noble Baroness’s specific questions in relation to Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities and on the other points that she raised.

In response to the disruptions to education during the pandemic, a further £222 million has been provided to continue the 16 to 19 tuition fund for an additional two years from the 2022-23 academic year. It allows students to access one-to-one and small group catch-up tuition in subjects that will benefit them most, including maths, English and vocational courses.