Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the number of new independent faith schools that have opened in Oldham since 2010; and what steps her Department has taken to encourage community cohesion and integration in those schools.

Four independent faith schools have opened in Oldham since 2010.

All independent schools, not just new ones and not just faith ones, have to comply with the independent school standards which are prescribed in regulations. Since 2010 the standards have been strengthened to encourage schools to do more work in encouraging community cohesion and integration. In 2010 the standards simply required that pupils should understand how they could contribute to community life, but from 2013, schools have had to ensure pupils understand how they can contribute positively to the lives of those living and working in the locality in which the school is situated, and to society more widely.

Other standards which schools must comply with - such as those requiring schools to actively promote tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs, and to further tolerance and harmony between different cultural traditions, by enabling pupils to acquire an appreciation of, and respect for, their own and other cultures - are also relevant in this context.

Independent schools are also subject to the Prevent duty, and a failure to comply with this is a breach of the independent school standards.

Any independent school which does not meet these standards is subject to regulatory action to ensure that it improves as rapidly as possible.