Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the levels of sexual harassment in schools in North West Durham.

Schools and colleges should be safe places for all children to learn and we are clear that sexual harassment should never be tolerated in a school.

Schools are under a statutory duty, set out in the department’s guidance, Keeping children safe in education (KCSIE), to safeguard and promote the welfare of their pupils. KCSIE sets out what staff should know and do to protect children. It also sets out that schools should have an effective child protection policy. The policy should include procedures to minimise the risk of peer on peer abuse and how allegations will be investigated and dealt with.

Our recent Pupil, Parent and Carers omnibus survey (July 2017) shows that 8% of the 857 female respondents said that a boy had touched them inappropriately and without permission at least once or twice in the last year. 28% of female respondents to the same survey said that they had experienced someone saying something sexual or sexist to them at least once or twice in the last year.

We do not hold data on incidents of sexual harassment in schools in specific parliamentary constituencies.

Ofsted inspectors will always consider whether safeguarding arrangements are effective and, if safeguarding is inadequate, this will be reflected in the overall rating of the school.

The hon. member for North West Durham will be aware, as discussed in the debate on sexual harassment and sexual violence in schools on 2 November 2017, of the steps the department will be taking to address the issues. We will be publishing interim advice for schools this term. The advice will cover child in child sexual violence and sexual harassment. We will also launch a public consultation, this term, on proposed updates to KCSIE. We intend to publish revised guidance, for information, early in the summer term 2018. This will then be commenced and come into force at the start of the September 2018 school year.