Equality Bill [HL]

I thank my noble friend Lady Turner for returning to these issues. I turn, first, to Amendments Nos. 185, 187, 189 and 191, to which my noble friend spoke. She seeks to ensure that education authorities are not given an exemption allowing them to harass in the course of exercising their functions. I agree with her and shall, in due course, wish to move Amendments Nos. 186 and 188, tabled in the name of my noble and learned friend the Lord Chancellor, which will have precisely that effect. In making this amendment, we are responding to comments made on the Bill by the JCHR, among others. Local education authorities and their Scottish counterparts will need an exemption from the discrimination provisions of the Bill if they are to continue their support for faith schools in its current form. The Government have made it clear that they do not wish to undermine the status quo for faith schools in any way. However, we are happy to accept that nothing that education authorities do in this context requires or should permit them to harass anyone on grounds of religion or belief. The amendment confines the exemption to discrimination only, and therefore I invite my noble friend to withdraw her amendment in due course. I now turn to Amendment No. 190, which I fear I am   not able to accept. I have already made it clear that the Government do not intend this legislation to undermine the status quo in relation to the operation of faith schools within our education system. I fully accept that any exemptions should be drawn as narrowly as possible, but they do need to be wide enough to protect current practices which are reasonable in the context of faith schools. We have therefore put forward our own amendment to make it clear that harassment in relation to school transport is not permissible. We considered carefully the case for the remaining exemption from the discrimination provisions, but without it, we believe that local education authorities and their Scottish counterparts would be vulnerable to challenge in properly carrying out their responsibilities in this area. LEAs must provide free home-to-school transport for pupils who are attending their nearest suitable school, provided that the school is beyond the statutory walking distances. Over and above that, LEAs have considerable scope to decide when transport is necessary. They are expected to consider each pupil’s case on its merits, taking account of all relevant factors including, when appropriate, a parent’s wish for their child to attend a school of the religion or denomination to which they adhere. Subsidised transport will generally be provided only to a school which is the nearest suitable school to a pupil’s home, but LEAs have the discretion to provide a subsidy for transport to a faith school which may not necessarily be the pupil’s nearest suitable school. I know that the British Humanist Society in particular regards that as unacceptable discrimination in favour of those with a religious faith—but that is an issue to be argued out at another time. It is really not for this Bill. Any suggestion that policy in this area ventures into the area of violation of the human rights of children is frankly misplaced. It is the responsibility of education authorities, in using their discretion, to ensure that their policies are compliant with human rights legislation. Our view is that they should treat parents of strong anti-religious beliefs and views equally and equivalently to those with a strong religious faith. Nothing in this Bill cuts across that. As far as this Bill is concerned, our policy is to allow existing systems which support the continued existence of faith schools to continue, without LEAs being vulnerable to challenge when carrying out this policy. It is for those reasons that, with the greatest regret, I cannot accept this amendment. I invite my noble friend not to press it.