Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill

My Lords, I shall speak also to Amendments 286, 288, 288AA, 289 and 290. This group of amendments relates to the clauses about complaints against schools. We on these Benches share the Government’s position that wherever possible complaints should be dealt with quickly and effectively at the school level. Such a process should be simple and as non-adversarial as possible. The focus should be on a quick resolution rather than a drawn out bureaucratic process in line with other statutory complaint processes for children. We therefore welcome the provisions that allow for parents and pupils to pursue complaints against a school and, if necessary, refer the matter to the local commissioner. This is significant progress towards implementing Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in the education system; that is, the right for children to have their views heard. While we on these Benches believe that it is important that parents and pupils who have a genuine complaint against a school have appropriate channels for obtaining satisfaction, we have considerable reservations about the system proposed by the Government. We do not want this to be a moaners’ charter or something that takes up a lot of the time of head teachers of good schools. We have therefore laid Amendment 283B, the effect of which is to prevent the local commissioner substituting his judgment for that of the head teacher unless it relates to a function prescribed in regulations. We would really like to know what is meant by a "prescribed function" and what sort of function it is. It is important that the new system should not be used by very determined parents to have one more try to get what they want. There has been some experience among appeals panels relating to exclusions and admissions that every tier of possible complaint will bring in an additional batch of such complaints. We need to avoid the danger of the head’s ability to maintain good order and discipline being undermined. It is a matter of balance and reasonableness, which I accept is difficult to legislate for, but the test of reasonableness must apply. In other words, the local commissioner should be able to substitute his judgment only if the school’s decision or behaviour was unreasonable by the commonly held standards of the profession. The noble Baroness, Lady Verma, has tabled Amendments 284 and 285, about which we have some concerns. In these amendments, the local commissioner would be prevented from considering complaints about behaviour, the enforcement of school rules, or fixed-term exclusions. While we normally uphold the principle that the judgment of the head teacher should operate in these matters, it is not beyond the bounds of possibility that the head teacher might behave unreasonably in these matters. The noble Baroness’s amendments would therefore weaken the right of redress and take away the flexibility of the local commissioner, so we do not support them. Amendment 286 seeks to include academies in the arrangements for complaints to be heard. It seems wrong, especially as the number of academies grows, that children attending such schools should not have recourse to the local commissioner in the same way as their neighbours do. Why have academies been excluded, and what recourse do parents of academy pupils have if they have a serious complaint against the school? We will not move Amendment 288, in the light of the Government’s Amendment 288ZA about vexatious complaints, which we welcome. In Amendment 288AA, we address the right of the commissioner in certain circumstances, to be prescribed in future regulations, to extend the hearing of complaints to former pupils. The amendment would restrict this to circumstances in which it is in the public interest to do so. We are concerned that parents who have exercised their right to remove a child may retain an indefinite right to make complaints against their child’s former school. Some situations just cannot be resolved to everyone’s satisfaction, and we cannot have this sort of thing hanging over the heads of schools indefinitely, so will the Minister indicate what will be in the regulations? Our Amendment 289 would ensure that when a parent refers a complaint to the local commissioner, he must allow the child the opportunity to comment on the matter. We cannot know about children’s experiences or hope to secure their best interests without asking them their views and listening to their perspectives. The amendment would ensure that, where children want to participate, the local commissioner will hear them and use their views to inform both the conduct of the investigation and the forming of their judgments. It would be an essential safeguard to ensure that children have the opportunity to remain engaged rather than risk becoming excluded throughout the local commissioner’s investigation. The amendment would not force a child to speak to the local commissioner where the child feels uncomfortable or chooses not to express an opinion. However, it would place a duty on the local commissioner to ask them whether they would like to contribute to the investigation. Amendment 290 would place a duty on the local commissioner to ensure the provision of an advocate to children and young people who make complaints about a school if they so wish. An advocate is an independent person who assists a young person to make his or her voice heard. Independent advocates have operated in children’s social care services since the late 1980s, following revelations of abuse and mistreatment in children’s homes. There is growing evidence that advocacy not only improves decision-making processes for children but safeguards their well-being. Advocates can demystify the process, raise the child’s understanding of the consequences of their view, help the child to express himself and support local resolutions through processes of arbitration and conciliation. Advocacy can be particularly helpful for disabled children, who face particular barriers to having their voice heard. As Sir William Utting put it in People Like Us: the Report of the Review of the Safeguards for Children Living Away from Home: ""Children sometimes need someone with whom they can talk through a problem before deciding how best to deal with it"." Those are wise words. I beg to move.