Humanists UK concern as new Government presses pause on Schools Bill

News that the long-awaited Schools Bill has been placed on hold has been met with concern by Humanists UK.

Reports suggest the Bill is being delayed because of reforms to controversial aspects of Part One of the Bill, which, critics argue, would have compromised the independence of English academy trusts while granting the UK Government new centralised powers, allowing them to determine how the schools should be run.

The third reading of the Bill in the House of Lords – scheduled for tomorrow (Wednesday 14 September) – has now been called off.

Humanists UK expressed concern that any delays with the Bill could lead to real consequences for the lives of thousands of children trapped in illegal schools.

A significant number of unregistered, illegal schools still operate throughout England. Many or most of these are religious in nature, and at least 6,000 children have been identified as being in these schools.

In many cases, children are made to study religious texts for up to 12 hours a day. They are often exposed to extremist literature and many schools operate in environments that are dirty and unsafe.

Humanists UK Education Campaigns Manager Robert Cann said:

‘Since 2014, Humanists UK has led the campaign to tackle such settings, and we now demand urgent clarity from the Government as to what will happen to these important plans.

‘Legislation to tackle illegal schools has been many years in the making, has gone through– a thorough consultation process, and  commands wide cross-party support. Last week we wrote to the new Secretary of State for Education, urging him to hold firm.

‘With the safety of thousands of children still attending these schools at stake, it’s vital that efforts to close these schools are not lost amongst an internal power-battle over detail of the delivery and regulation of academy schools. We’re reminding ministers how important it is not to throw the baby out with the bathwater.’

Humanists UK has led the way against illegal, unregistered schools for many years and was responsible for bringing the issue to public attention.

Government inspectors have described encountering unregistered schools with ‘quite appalling’ conditions, with unsafe accommodation and unqualified staff.

However, due to loopholes in the law – such as agreement on the definition of ‘full-time’ education, and also the lack of a home education register – Ofsted’s hands are currently tied and they have been unable to seize evidence and shut them down.

Earlier in the passage of the Bill, Humanists UK identified a couple of potential loopholes and worked with parliamentarians to table two amendments.

One of these focused on the fact that those settings to be regulated must be ‘full-time’, and the other looked at when Ofsted should or shouldn’t need a warrant to enter a setting. As a result of this the Government listened and agreed to work with Ofsted to address these concerns.