Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what advice or guidance, if any, they propose to provide to schools, in particular to religiously selective schools, regarding compliance with the School Admissions Code, in the light of the findings of the report <i>An Unholy Mess</i>, published by the Fair Admissions Campaign and the British Humanist Association last year, that a significant number of schools are failing to comply with the Code in various ways.
Answered by Lord Nash
The Government will shortly consult on a package of changes to the School Admissions Code which will both respond to concerns from parents and to the findings in the Chief Adjudicator’s Annual Report. That package will include measures to improve fairness and transparency.
Admission authorities for all state-funded schools, including schools with a religious designation, are required to comply with the mandatory provisions of the School Admissions Code and other admissions law.
When constructing faith-based oversubscription criteria, including deciding how membership or practice of the faith will be determined, admission authorities must have regard to the guidance of their relevant religious authority, and their arrangements must comply with the statutory School Admissions Code. They must consult with their religious authority when proposing any changes to their admission arrangements.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they propose to take, if any, to reduce the complexity of the admission arrangements employed by religiously selective schools, as highlighted in the report <i>An Unholy Mess</i> published by the Fair Admissions Campaign and the British Humanist Association last year, and the 2014–15 annual report of the Chief Schools Adjudicator, so that all parents are better able to understand what is required to gain admission to their local school.
Answered by Lord Nash
The Government will shortly consult on a package of changes to the School Admissions Code which will both respond to concerns from parents and to the findings in the Chief Adjudicator’s Annual Report. That package will include measures to improve fairness and transparency.
Admission authorities for all state-funded schools, including schools with a religious designation, are required to comply with the mandatory provisions of the School Admissions Code and other admissions law.
When constructing faith-based oversubscription criteria, including deciding how membership or practice of the faith will be determined, admission authorities must have regard to the guidance of their relevant religious authority, and their arrangements must comply with the statutory School Admissions Code. They must consult with their religious authority when proposing any changes to their admission arrangements.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to the comment made in the 2014–15 annual report of the Chief Schools Adjudicator, that "the complex [admissions] arrangements of some schools do not serve local children well".
Answered by Lord Nash
I refer the Baroness Lister to the answer to parliamentary question HL5707 submitted to parliament on 12 February 2016.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the report by the Fair Admissions Campaign and British Humanist Association last year claiming widespread breaches of the School Admissions Code among religiously selective schools, what assessment they have made of the impact on the number of breaches of the School Admissions Code of preventing groups and organisations from submitting objections to school admission arrangements.
Answered by Lord Nash
I refer the Baroness Lister to the answer to HL5704, which was submitted to Parliament on 12 February 2016.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps the Department for Education has taken to ensure that schools whose admission arrangements were objected to by the Fair Admissions Campaign in 2014 and 2015 have changed their arrangements in line with any determinations of the Office of the Schools Adjudicator.
Answered by Lord Nash
A decision made by the School’s Adjudicator is binding and enforceable. Where the Adjudicator upholds an objection about a school’s admission arrangements, the statutory School Admissions Code requires the school’s admission authority to revise their admission arrangements to give effect to the Adjudicator’s decision within two months of that decision, or by 28 February following the decision, whichever is the sooner. Should an admission authority fail to comply with this requirement, the Secretary of State is able to take action to require them to comply.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to renew the commitment made in 2010 by the Coalition Government to give due consideration to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child when making new policy and legislation, as recommended by the Joint Committee on Human Rights in its report <i>The UK's compliance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child</i> (8th Report, Session 2014–15, HL Paper 144).
Answered by Lord Nash
The government remains committed to giving due consideration to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) when developing new policy and legislation and the commitment given by the coalition government stands. We believe that embedding children’s rights in government policy can strengthen services and improve outcomes for children. The rights set out in the UNCRC are secured through a range of different methods, including through legislation, guidance and requirements in various national minimum standards such as the 'Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations including the quality standards' which is available in the attached document and at:
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to revise the statutory guidance <i>Working together to Safeguard Children </i>to make specific reference to the considerations that arise in the cases of destitute families with no recourse to public funds seeking accommodation and financial support from local authorities under section 17 of the Children Act 1989, in the light of the recent report by the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society<i> Safeguarding children from destitution</i>.
Answered by Lord Nash
The statutory guidance, Working Together to Safeguard Children, is already clear that professionals should put the needs of children first, and take the right action to promote the welfare of children and keep them safe. We continue to keep this guidance under review.
As the report notes, under section 17 of the Children Act 1989, local authorities have a general duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children within their area who are in need, by providing a range and level of services appropriate to those children’s needs. One instance where a child, including a destitute child, is taken to be ‘in need’ for these purposes, is if they are unlikely to achieve or maintain a reasonable standard of health or development or to have the opportunity of doing so, without the provision of services for the child by a local authority. This may include providing accommodation and subsistence.