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Division Vote (Lords)
5 Jul 2023 - Illegal Migration Bill - View Vote Context
Lord Desai (XB) voted Aye and in line with the House
One of 37 Crossbench Aye votes vs 5 Crossbench No votes
Vote Tally: Ayes - 232 Noes - 169
Division Vote (Lords)
5 Jul 2023 - Illegal Migration Bill - View Vote Context
Lord Desai (XB) voted Aye and in line with the House
One of 42 Crossbench Aye votes vs 4 Crossbench No votes
Vote Tally: Ayes - 232 Noes - 178
Division Vote (Lords)
4 Jul 2023 - Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill - View Vote Context
Lord Desai (XB) voted Aye and in line with the House
One of 40 Crossbench Aye votes vs 9 Crossbench No votes
Vote Tally: Ayes - 223 Noes - 204
Division Vote (Lords)
3 Jul 2023 - Illegal Migration Bill - View Vote Context
Lord Desai (XB) voted Aye and in line with the House
One of 51 Crossbench Aye votes vs 3 Crossbench No votes
Vote Tally: Ayes - 230 Noes - 152
Division Vote (Lords)
3 Jul 2023 - Illegal Migration Bill - View Vote Context
Lord Desai (XB) voted Aye and in line with the House
One of 47 Crossbench Aye votes vs 4 Crossbench No votes
Vote Tally: Ayes - 226 Noes - 152
Division Vote (Lords)
3 Jul 2023 - Illegal Migration Bill - View Vote Context
Lord Desai (XB) voted Aye and in line with the House
One of 41 Crossbench Aye votes vs 3 Crossbench No votes
Vote Tally: Ayes - 218 Noes - 158
Division Vote (Lords)
3 Jul 2023 - Illegal Migration Bill - View Vote Context
Lord Desai (XB) voted Aye and in line with the House
One of 51 Crossbench Aye votes vs 3 Crossbench No votes
Vote Tally: Ayes - 230 Noes - 151
Division Vote (Lords)
3 Jul 2023 - Illegal Migration Bill - View Vote Context
Lord Desai (XB) voted Aye and in line with the House
One of 40 Crossbench Aye votes vs 4 Crossbench No votes
Vote Tally: Ayes - 216 Noes - 163
Division Vote (Lords)
3 Jul 2023 - Illegal Migration Bill - View Vote Context
Lord Desai (XB) voted Aye and in line with the House
One of 36 Crossbench Aye votes vs 2 Crossbench No votes
Vote Tally: Ayes - 214 Noes - 150
Written Question
Schools: Admissions
Monday 3rd July 2023

Asked by: Lord Desai (Crossbench - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the recommendation of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child that the UK should prevent the use of religion as a selection criterion for school admission in England.

Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The UK is a signatory of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child’s (UNCRC), and the department will consider carefully the Committee’s recommendations. The government does not always agree with, or implement, UNCRCs recommendations, and there is no requirement to do so.

Mainstream state-funded schools designated with a religious character, commonly known as faith schools, may choose to give priority for places to applicants on the basis of faith, but only where they are oversubscribed. Where they have places available, they must admit all children who apply without reference to faith. Faith-based oversubscription criteria provide a means to support parents to have their children educated in line with their religious and philosophical beliefs, where they wish to do so.

Some faith schools only prioritise a proportion of places with reference to faith, and others do not use faith-based criteria at all. Free schools which are designated with a religious character must allocate at least 50% of places without reference to faith, where they are oversubscribed.

The School Admissions Code exists to ensure that admission arrangements are fair, clear and objective, and is binding on all state mainstream schools, including faith schools. Where anyone is concerned that a school’s admission arrangements are unfair or unlawful, the department encourages them to refer an objection to the independent Schools Adjudicator.