Education Bill

My Lords, we are in difficult and delicate territory. We accepted that when we discussed related points on Tuesday. However, there is a need to lean in the other direction and expose the argument. My focus is particularly on the question of having another witness available. I realise and accept that being searched by someone of a different sex is a more complex matter, and maybe we need to differentiate these two. I make the point about whether another witness is necessary by quoting what my noble friend Lady Perry said on Tuesday. ““There are crisis incidents”” she said, and: "““At that point, a teacher has to take action””.—[Official Report, 28/6/11; col. GC 230.]" I am concerned about the parent who discovers that their child has been injured at school when perhaps an intervention would have made a difference. This is a difficult point to make, but the issue in principle that we touched on and now face full on today is whether the legislation should preclude the possibility of a teacher exercising judgment. We all have the respect for teachers that we properly should have and we have insisted on the need for professional training and back-up. That is why the training has to be school-wide, not just for a specialist teacher who does this kind of thing. However, can we not leave room in the legislation for crisis incidents and for the exercise of good professional judgment by a teacher in a situation in which we hope none will be tested?