Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that racist bullying of gypsy, roma and traveller pupils is tackled effectively in schools.

Bullying, for whatever reason, is absolutely unacceptable and should not be tolerated in our schools.

All schools are required by law to have a behaviour policy with measures to tackle bullying among pupils. Schools are free to develop their own anti-bullying strategies but they are held clearly to account for their effectiveness through Ofsted.

The government continues to make tackling all forms of bullying a priority. In September 2016, the Department for Education and the Government Equalities Office announced £4.4m of funding for 10 projects to tackle bullying, this includes a project led by the Anne Frank Trust which encourages young people to think about the importance of tackling prejudice, discrimination and bullying.

The department has produced good practice case studies for schools working with Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) pupils, which are available at: www.gov.uk/government/case-studies/gypsy-roma-and-traveller-pupils-supporting-access-to-education, and is currently considering the drivers for raising the educational attainment of GRT pupils, drawing on expertise from these communities.