Education Bill

Baroness Hughes of Stretford Excerpts

Monday 11th July 2011 Grand Committee

[Lord Lucas]

My Lords, I shall speak to Amendment 74 very briefly because apparently the Government have today come forward with some guidance on the subject, or at least a firm view, which I would very much like to hear before I take up a lot of your Lordships’ time telling you what my opinions are based on what the situation used to be.

I find it ridiculous that the schools I have used and been involved in will not put a plaster on a child’s knee when it has hurt itself and will not comfort a child who has been bereaved because they are frightened. I entirely understand why they are frightened. As soon as a complaint of any kind is made, the schools feel compelled to cast the teacher adrift, to throw them out to the local social workers. If they get on with them well, that is fine—then there is a pattern of dealing with the problem which is well understood. But in many cases they do not; in many cases there is not the necessary degree of trust and understanding, and under those circumstances schools choose to protect their teachers, which I entirely understand.

I understand that the Government have developed a position on this that they can tell us about and it might help us all if the Minister told us where they find themselves so that we can then have at them in the knowledge of where we are now rather than where we were yesterday. I beg to move.

[Baroness Hughes of Stretford]

My Lords, I want to raise an issue on the back of this amendment and ask the Minister to reply to it. More than a few members of the Committee were very concerned to see a report in the Telegraph this morning that the Government have issued what they call in their press release the,

“final, clearer guidance for teachers”,

on how they should deal with bad behaviour. This final, clearer guidance includes and enumerates all the issues that we debated not so long ago, upon which a vote has not been taken, as we are in Grand Committee. Therefore, I contend that there is as yet no final resolution of this House, nor of the other House, on these matters. I feel that this is precipitous in the extreme of the Government and quite discourteous to the House. I fail to see how final guidance can be issued which refers to matters that we have yet to decide upon.

[Baroness Garden of Frognal]

My Lords, it may help the Committee if I speak at this stage. According to the news, this guidance appears to be coming out at the same time that we were discussing these matters in Grand Committee. But this consultation ended in May, so the guidance has been published on the back of that. It relates to the current law, not the legislation before us at the moment. Again, the timing seems curious, but it is a consequence of it referring to another law rather than the Bill.

Let me speak briefly about what is in the guidance. We will ensure that Members of the Committee are issued with the guidance which has come out today to help frame our further discussions.

I am grateful to my noble friend for giving us the opportunity for this debate. We agree with much of his amendment. Of course a teacher should be able to comfort a small child who has fallen over or show them how to hold a violin bow or a tennis racket. The notion of no contact seems to me to go against our instincts as humans and, indeed, as teachers. There is nothing in law to prevent it. When pupils are on school premises, or off site but under the lawful charge of the school, teachers and school staff are acting in loco parentis. This means that they are, in the eyes of the common law, effectively stepping into the shoes of a parent unless there are statutory provisions which specify otherwise. No parent would think twice about sticking on a plaster or showing a child how to hold a rounders bat, and a teacher should feel equally able to do these things. I would strongly encourage any head teacher to make this clear to his or her staff.

Our guidance on this issue is also clear and it is made clearer in the papers in the consultation that has come out today. The guidance states:

“It is not illegal to touch a pupil. There are occasions when physical contact … with a pupil is proper and necessary.

Examples of where touching a pupil might be proper or necessary: holding the hand of the child at the front/back of the line when going to assembly or when walking together around the school; when comforting a distressed pupil; when a pupil is being congratulated or praised; to demonstrate how to use a musical instrument; to demonstrate exercises or techniques during PE lessons or sports coaching; and to give first aid”.

Of course this is not an exhaustive list but I think it demonstrates our clear expectations.

We agree that teachers who are subject to a complaint that they have used inappropriate physical contact should not routinely be suspended. This is why our new guidance on behaviour, and the associated guidance on dealing with allegations of abuse against teachers and other staff, makes clear that employers should not automatically suspend a member of staff who has been accused of misconduct pending an investigation.

We agree that teachers should and do need to have contact with pupils on a day-to-day basis. The law already allows for such contact. Our guidance reinforces this message and encourages schools to take a common-sense approach to physical contact between teachers and pupils. I hope that that has set out the background to this consultation and that, in that light, my noble friend will not feel the need to press this amendment.