Schools: Birmingham

(asked on 27th April 2023) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what lessons they learnt from the events that followed reports into allegations concerning Birmingham schools arising from the 'Trojan Horse' letter from 2014; and what steps they are taking to prevent any risk to schools elsewhere.


Answered by
Baroness Barran Portrait
Baroness Barran
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This question was answered on 15th May 2023

The government is clear that there is no place for extremism in our schools, and the department is committed to ensuring that children and young people are safe from both extremism and radicalisation.

Following the recommendations contained in Peter Clarke’s report into the allegations arising from the ‘Trojan Horse’ letter, the department took strong action, including:

  • Producing guidance on the promotion of fundamental British values (FBV’s) so that schools have a clear understanding of what is required and how best to practically deliver these.
  • Introducing powers to take action against individual teachers or governors who act in a way that undermines FBV’s.
  • Setting-up a counter-extremism helpline and online referral form to ensure those working in the sector and the public can report extremism concerns directly to the department to be investigated where appropriate.
  • Building a network of regionally based Education Prevent Officers and Department for Education Prevent Coordinators who support education settings to deliver their Prevent and counter-extremism responsibilities.
  • Creating the department’s ‘Educate Against Hate’ website which provides advice, support, and resources for parents, teachers, and school leaders to help them protect young people from extremism and radicalisation.

The department keeps its work under regular review to ensure we continue to provide effective support to the sector to prevent extremism and intolerance from gaining a foothold in our schools.

Reticulating Splines