Equality Bill

I shall speak also to the other amendments in this group. Amendment 106A reinstates an important protection in the Schools Standards and Framework Act 1998 that was removed by the Education and Inspections Act 2006. Under the protection in the earlier Act, it was not lawful for voluntary controlled schools, of which there are some 3,000, to require a head teacher to be a reserved teacher. Such teachers need to be able to teach religious education, must hold the requisite belief and attend religious worship and their conduct needs to be compatible with the precepts of the religion. The removal of this protection in 2006 represented an adverse change in employment affecting thousands of head teachers and teachers with hopes of promotion later in their career. Attempts to secure transitional provisions for them have failed. Indeed, the Church of England’s National Society for Promoting Religious Education has made it clear that all VC head teacher posts under its control will automatically become reserved teacher posts, regardless of the injustice, and even hardship, that that may cause. I am advised that the removal of the protection afforded represented a regression in employment equality law that is in breach of EU Directive 2000/78/EC. The other amendments in this group deal with a similar issue: the religious requirement that can be imposed on all teachers in voluntary aided faith schools. Why should such requirements be imposed on, for example, physical education or maths teachers when the same rules do not apply to charities or businesses with a religious ethos? I believe that this is also not in line with EU Council Directive 2000/78/EC. The directive seems to require that permitted discrimination can take place only when there is a genuine occupational requirement. The Bill, if unamended, allows discrimination against a large category of employees; namely, all teachers in most faith schools. I hope that the Government will agree that this is not acceptable and that steps should be taken to ensure that the Bill is fully in line with the EU directive. We had some discussion about the EU directive earlier in this Committee, and I understand that the Government have already been told that they are in breach. I have a copy of the reasoned opinion from the EU Commission, and it is quite clear that the ruling is that this country is in breach. It is an important document, and I hope it can be left in the Library for noble Lords to read. It is important for the legislation we are introducing to be in line with the directive. If it is not, it means that people who feel that their rights have not been applied to them may seek to have them enforced by the courts. It would be better if, from the beginning, we have legislation that is fully compliant with the EU directive. I beg to move.