King’s Speech

Lord Sandhurst Excerpts

Thursday 9th November 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Sandhurst (Con)]

My Lords, I shall address two matters today. Each concerns education, on which this Government have rightly placed a premium, but there remain significant areas which the proposed legislative programme does not address. Indeed, we do not have an education Bill. I hope that time may yet be found to address them none the less.

The first point I make concerns the right of parents and prospective parents to know what their children are being taught in schools. In RSE, too many schools still have contracts with outside providers of teaching materials whose terms purport to forbid teachers from showing copies to parents or others who want to know what is being taught. That is often because the provider is really a lobby group promoting unorthodox ideas in sex education or race theory. They do not want the public to see what is being taught. I do not need to cite examples; the press in recent months has been full of this.

When the now defunct Schools Bill came before the House last year, I, with other noble Lords from across the House, from all four Benches—three anyway—tabled an amendment in Committee which would have given parents the statutory right to see such materials. That came to nothing when the Bill died but, on 31 March this year, the department wrote to schools saying that parents should be able to view all curriculum materials. That has gone further now: the department sent a stronger circular on 23 October, three weeks ago. The first letter said:

“The Department is clear that parents should be able to view all curriculum materials. This includes cases where an external agency advises schools that their materials cannot be shared due to restrictions in commercial law, or a school’s contract with the provider prohibits sharing materials beyond the classroom”.


I welcome that, but it is not a substitute for legislation. First, legislation has a permanence which cannot be provided by departmental guidance. Secondly, a letter from a Minister does not bind the courts; it is possible that the propositions of law set out in a circular will fail to stand up in some future litigation. Thirdly, the experience to date has been that circulars and guidance from the department have not been enough to secure compliance with the policy of transparency. Fourthly, it does not address the position of prospective parents—those who have yet to send their children to a school—only the rights of parents of current pupils. Finally, the propositions in the circular themselves are subject to some limitations and qualifications.

The right way to provide for the rights of parents and prospective parents hoping to make an informed choice of school is a parental rights Bill. This will properly protect their rights under Article 2 of Protocol 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights, as reinforced by the court in Strasbourg. Such a Bill is to be found on the website of the Society of Conservative Lawyers, whose chair of research I am. I commend it to the House. Failing that, there is the Bill recently presented in the other place by Miriam Cates MP, which I believe deserves support. A critical point in its favour compared to the circular is that it would require all RSE teaching materials from external providers to be either published in the public domain or obtainable on payment of a modest fee.

I move briefly to my second topic, the vital life skill of financial awareness. I have addressed the House on this before but I want to urge the Government forward. There is a clear and pressing need to include financial education in primary schools, not just secondary schools. As the Centre for Social Justice has explained, money habits and behaviours that will stick for life are formed by the age of seven. However, two-thirds of primary school children receive no financial education. The Centre for Financial Capability has made the same points in its report this month on financial literacy in the community. We know as adults that we have to manage rent, mortgages and a range of household bills. Children must be equipped for this and it must start young. Too many school leavers still leave ill equipped because the grounding has not been laid at the outset. These skills must be embedded young. While financial education is now taught in secondary schools, many teachers say that too many leave school with an inadequate grasp of it. We must do something about it. It must start in primary schools and I urge this Government to do something now.