APPHG Chair welcomes provisions to tackle illegal faith schools as Children’s Bill passes to the Lords

All-Party Parliamentary Humanist Group (APPHG) Chair Lizzi Collinge MP welcomed provisions in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to end illegal faith schools and introduce a home-educated children’s register as the Bill finished its first stages in the Commons and passed to the House of Lords. But she called for the 50% cap on faith-based admissions to new state schools to be maintained, in the face of it being scrapped by the Bill.

Lizzi spoke at the report stage of the Bill, welcoming the new powers it provides against illegal faith schools that would ‘[grant] Ofsted increased powers of entry and [provide] more powers to bring criminal cases against those schools and the people who run them.’ Humanists UK has led the campaign to close illegal faith schools, and the APPHG Chair recognised this in her speech laying on record her ‘thanks to Humanists UK for its work exposing the dreadful practices in illegal schools over the past decade.’

Collinge set out the dangers of illegal faith schools for the over 7,000 children and young people that are estimated to attend them:

‘Usually, they are run by religious groups, which tend to be fundamentalist, extreme, highly controlling or isolationist in their outlook. We know from former pupils of these schools that in many cases they only study religious texts and receive no other form of education. Children attending illegal schools have also been subjected to abuse, both physical and sexual.’

She also welcomed the new regulations for home education, that include a register of home-educated children, as they would also protect children at risk from high-controlling religious indoctrination through the misuse of home education to be placed in illegal faith schools. Collinge said:

‘Sadly, there are too many cases where children who are classed as home-educated are actually attending the illegal settings that I set out earlier, or are simply not receiving any education at all. The introduction of registers for children not in school is crucial in ensuring that children do not fall through the net.’

Bill passes Commons, but without amendments on 50% cap or ending collective worship

The Bill passed its report stage and third reading in the House of Commons on Tuesday 18 March, and passed its first reading on the House of Lords on Wednesday 19 March. 

Unfortunately, on Tuesday the Government rejected the amendments brought by APPHG members Cat Eccles MP and Ian Sollom MP to end enforced collective Christian worship in state schools with no religious character and to extend the 50% cap on faith admissions to new types of school that can open under the Bill. This was in addition to the Government rejecting an amendment by Jess Asato MP on Monday to repeal the ‘reasonable punishment’ defence for hitting children.

Lizzi also spoke in favour of keeping the cap, saying:

‘I am pleased that the Government have confirmed the 50% cap on faith-based selection criteria for new academies and free schools. Faith-based schools are shown to be less diverse than their peers on a range of measures, including deprivation levels—measured by free school meals—the number of children with special educational needs and disabilities, and diversity of race and ethnicity compared with their local areas.

‘However, I am still concerned that new schools opened by local authorities are not subject to the same cap. In cases of oversubscription, they could allow 100% faith-based admission.‘

Humanists UK will continue to campaign on all these issues, and will seek to ensure these amendments are taken up as the Bill begins its passage through the House of Lords.

Humanists UK’s Education Campaigns Manager Kieran Aldred commented:

‘Lizzi Collinge set out clearly and strongly why this Bill is needed to give more powers to Ofsted to inspect illegal faith schools and bring criminal cases against those who run them. Humanists UK has worked with the APPHG for a decade to secure these powers and we are thrilled that this Government has taken action to protect children from dangerous institutions of dogmatic indoctrination. 

‘We hope that through thorough debate in the House of Lords, the Government will also take action to protect children from violence in the home by repealing the reasonable punishment defence, and that they will champion inclusion and freedom of belief by extending the 50% faith cap and ending enforced collective worship.’