Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill

My Lords, I shall do my best to respond to all the important points that noble Lords have raised. I start with a question that the noble Lord, Lord Hunt, asked, about whether the new clauses were in response to a specific incident. They are. There was a case a few years ago, although I do not wish to deluge the Committee further with information, in which an autistic girl was restrained many times without her parents being informed, which caused considerable concern and distress and has prompted us to look very carefully at the policy. I should be happy to write to noble Lords, giving some background on that very sad case. I start by looking at the core recording and reporting requirements in Amendments 307A, 307C and 307D. It is right that teachers and lecturers have the power to use reasonable force in appropriate circumstances, to protect those in their care. I think that that is understood in the Committee. Such incidents can be distressing to learners and staff. Of course, as the noble Baroness, Lady Walmsley, said, we would hope that this was a matter of the last resort. It is appropriate, therefore, that a clear and contemporary report is made of each significant incident—and I recognise the importance of the word significant—and that a report is made to parents. This will act as a safeguard for both learners and for staff, who will be better able to refute malicious and inaccurate accusations. I am sure that that is what already happens in the vast majority of good schools. Recording and reporting is already a good practice which most schools and colleges follow. Making it a legislative requirement will ensure that best practice is applied consistently. The meaning of "significant" is an important question, which Amendments 307B and 307BA both probe; however, it is important to maintain a sensible balance. We would not want schools to have to make a report every time a teacher stopped a pupil who was leaning back in a chair or falling over, for example. That is why the use of the term "significant" is essential. We are working with our social partners to clarify the criteria that constitute "significant" and will set that out in our statutory guidance. The question of discretion is also important and is probed in Amendment 307BB. I appreciate fully the strength of feeling on whether head teachers should be able to exercise their discretion in reporting significant incidents of the use of force—again, there is the importance of "significant". I believe, however, that the clause as drafted gets it right in requiring that parents must be told when a significant incident has occurred, which comes back to that important definition. Where the relationship between the parent and child is so fraught that such a report might have adverse consequences for the pupil or student, the clause would not prevent the report from reaching the parents through a third party—for example, the local social services department. Our first priority is the protection of vulnerable children. Ensuring that parents or guardians know what has happened to their children in school is an important means of providing that protection. If they do not know, how can they play any part in ensuring that issues are addressed? In a tiny minority of cases, we would expect alternative arrangements to be put in place for the parents to be informed. Amendment 306 would remove the power to use force to maintain good order and discipline. While the use of force must always be a last resort, it is important that teachers should have the option of using reasonable force to maintain authority in their classes—for example, to remove a disruptive child from a classroom. To forbid such action would lead to pupils being able to defy teachers’ authority and to disrupt other pupils’ learning without redress, which I am sure we must all agree we do not want to see. On the concern expressed by the noble Baroness, Lady Walmsley, following the completion of the Smallridge and Williamson review, an Appeal Court judgment, as the noble Baroness said, ruled that force could not be used for the maintenance of good order and discipline in secure training centres. We do not, however, accept that banning it in schools is right as schools are, surely, a fundamentally different environment from the secure estate. Young people in the secure estate lack the home support that most pupils enjoy. They are in a closed environment and more likely to be alone with the staff members when force is being used on them than pupils in school. The paramount importance in schools of ensuring good order and discipline, in order that children can learn, is key. It is simply not acceptable for one disruptive pupil to be able to cause mayhem in a lesson. In some cases, while I understand the concern expressed by the noble Baroness, Lady Howe, on this, the use of force to get the pupil out of the classroom may be the only option. Without that power, the disciplinary authority of teachers would also be fatally compromised. I shall finish on training, an issue that the noble Baroness, Lady Walmsley, raises again in Amendment 307. We recognise the importance of appropriate training for school staff in the use of force. Our existing guidance on the use of force highlights the importance of good training and recommends that schools set out their approach to relevant training in their use-of-force policy. Our guidance makes clear the principle that force should be used only as a last resort and covers de-escalation techniques, in the very way that the noble Baroness mentioned. As she knows, it is all about reducing risk and ensuring that proper risk assessments are made. The noble Lord, Lord Hunt, discussed detentions in referring to Amendment 308. School staff already have the power to use reasonable force to prevent a pupil from committing an offence, causing injury, damaging property or prejudicing the maintenance of good order and discipline. In circumstances where a pupil walking out of a detention would clearly undermine good order and discipline, a member of staff would be able, if they judged it appropriate, to use reasonable force to prevent them from leaving. It is absolutely right that teachers should have the powers and tools that they need to keep good order in the classroom. Importantly, however, we must ensure that teachers know about the powers that they already have, which are pretty comprehensive. I hope, having addressed concerns, particularly around the key issue of the definition of "significant", and our work with social partners—the teaching unions and professional associations—to ensure that we get this right and strike the right balance, that the noble Baroness feels able to withdraw her amendment.