Education Bill

My Lords, I shall try to pull together some of the strands from this extremely good and thought-provoking debate. I fully accept that these are not simple issues. I recognise that the noble Baroness, Lady Howarth, approaches this matter from a slightly different point of view from the generality of the Committee, with her concern for the children involved, whereas generally there was acceptance of the principle that one needs to protect teachers in schools. However, the debate concerns whether one should extend that further. I recognise noble Lords’ concerns, some of which were raised by my noble friend Lord Black, which we shall discuss in more detail when we consider amendments in the next group in the name of my noble friend Lord Phillips. I accept that the reporting restrictions introduced by the clause interfere with rights to freedom of expression. I think that the noble Baroness, Lady Hughes, made this point. I think all noble Lords agree that any such interference would need to be carefully targeted, proportionate and justified. Teachers already have legal remedies if they are the victims of libel and defamation, as we all do, but those remedies are available only once the damage is done. My noble friend Lord Black raised that point. It would be a very major step for a teacher, or for any of us, to go down the route of taking a libel action. That is an enormous step for a teacher to take, and I am not at all surprised that there appears to be little evidence of a teacher complaining to the PCC. If one were a teacher and suddenly found oneself the subject of these allegations, I do not think one’s natural first route of recourse would be to think, ““Oh, I’d better ring the PCC””. I understand the points the noble Lord makes, but when one is looking at it from the point of view of what teachers might experience, it is proper for us to think whether, given the particular circumstances, it is right to try to provide extra protection for them and to do so before the damage is done. We want to provide teachers, including, for example, peripatetic music teachers, sports teachers and supply staff engaged in the school—which is the point made by the noble Baroness, Lady Hughes—with more protection. That is what Clause 13 sets out to do. It makes it illegal for anyone to publish material that would identify a teacher as the subject of an allegation about a criminal offence made by or on behalf of a pupil at their school. It would remain illegal until an independent investigation showed that there was a case to answer, in that the police had pressed charges, or the Secretary of State, in his role as regulator, had published his decision to hold a hearing about the allegation. The clause as drafted allows for applications to be made to the court for reporting restrictions to be lifted where a public interest case can be made. The clause does not affect in any way the seriousness with which allegations made by children must be considered and, if necessary, investigated by the appropriate authorities. Schools have statutory responsibilities to carry out their functions with a view to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. Government statutory guidance sets out that if an allegation suggests that a member of staff has behaved in a way that has harmed a child or may have harmed a child, has possibly committed a criminal offence against or related to a child, or has behaved towards a child or children in a way that indicates he or she may pose a risk of harm, the allegations must be referred to the local authority designated officer so that they can consult the police and local authority children’s social care services colleagues as appropriate. The police then have a responsibility to investigate allegations of criminal offences, and local authorities will consider what action may be required under their own statutory responsibilities to protect children from harm. I agree with the points made by the noble Lord, Lord Knight, and the noble Baroness, Lady Howarth, about the importance of speed. I do not know the precise answer about whether these investigations have got any quicker. In my previous life before coming into this place, I was involved in a number of these cases, and it was an extremely protracted and grinding process that seemed to inch forward. For the child making the allegation and for the teacher who had allegations made against them, there was a sense of drift and of deadlines being set by the police or others which were not met. I think there is a real issue around the speed of the process and that one should try to think about how one should address it. There are also issues for the teacher because suspension is the default position. Once someone makes an allegation, it is currently a natural response, particularly given the legal advice one might receive, to say, ““I find it inconceivable that this could be true, but I had better suspend them just in case””. There is an issue around that which might address some of these things. We had a discussion about the evidence. We have had evidence from NASUWT which has given us records of allegations against teachers over the past 20 years where the union had been asked to provide a solicitor. We have a number of individual cases that provide evidence of press reporting of allegations against teachers in advance of charges being brought. The NASUWT evidence showed that 86 per cent of allegations between 1991 and 2009 that were considered serious enough to warrant NASUWT being requested to provide a solicitor resulted in no further action. Only 11 per cent went to court and, of those cases, 50 per cent resulted in the court taking no further action. Only 5 per cent of cases overall resulted in a caution or a conviction. I have been asked a question which goes to this heart of this matter and which I accept is the proper question: why just teachers? Our argument would be that because of their lead role in relation to school discipline, teachers are particularly vulnerable to false and malicious allegations, but their role also makes it particularly important to protect them from the damage that such allegations, or the threat of them, can cause. Many of the amendments in this group seek to extend the clause to other groups. The Government are not, in principle, unsympathetic to requests to extend the provisions, but I would argue, for some of the reasons that we have already touched on and which have been raised by my noble friend Lord Black, that we should proceed cautiously. These new restrictions would be an interference with freedom of expression and, as such, we must ensure that they are a proportionate response to a clearly identified and pressing social need. We do not yet have such comparable data for those who work in FE institutions or in relation to other groups of staff in schools. The noble Baroness, Lady Hughes of Stretford, pointed out that there are staff in FE institutions who have the same professional role in relation to the same kinds of pupils as teachers in schools. I accept that point, but there are differences between FE institutions and schools, in ethos, size and average age of the student population. The situation of support staff has been raised and our argument would be that, as a generality, they do not share the teachers’ lead role in relation to classroom discipline. To extend the provision, we would need clearer evidence than we currently have that these particular groups experience the same problems. We are taking action to try to assess and develop the evidence base. The noble Baroness, Lady Hughes, mentioned a survey from UNISON. We have had and will continue to have discussions with representatives of the FE sector on this issue. We have commissioned a survey to look at the day-to-day experiences of how allegations are handled in schools, in FE colleges and by local authorities. This research began in March and we expect to have the results by the end of the year. I see merit in taking the opportunity to evaluate the effectiveness of the provisions contained in Clause 13 for teachers before we consider wider application. That brings me to Amendment 75A, tabled by my noble friend Lady Jolly. It has been the subject of an exchange with my noble friends Lady Walmsley and Lord Phillips. As the noble Lord, Lord Phillips, pointed out, the request is for a report on how reporting restrictions will be extended rather than whether there is evidence that they should be extended. That is the nub of it. The amendment would also allow the Secretary of State to amend Clause 13 to include descriptions of other staff working with children and young people, should both Houses of Parliament approve the recommendations set out in the report. I see what my noble friends are trying to achieve, but extending the provisions to include other groups would necessarily entail a further interference with freedom of expression and should, in my view, be dealt with by primary legislation so that it is given the careful scrutiny that this House certainly provides. The Government ought to review the impact of the provisions in the way that my noble friends have suggested and we should do that earlier than the customary period of three to five years. I think the timescale suggested by my noble friends sounds sensible and I believe that that review should include, as my noble friend Lord Black suggested, the views of the media as well. The debate that we have had clearly highlighted the difficult balance between the competing demands of protecting individual privacy and freedom of expression on the other. As the noble Lord, Lord Knight, pointed out from his own experience it is not straightforward. Should one hold back or go down the slippery slope, as he asked? I understand the arguments for extending the protections provided by Clause 13 but I also accept the arguments that have been made that we should proceed with care and limit the circumstances in which these restrictions might apply. It seems to me that we should keep the effect under review and be prepared in due course to revisit it once we have further evidence. I hope that the noble Baroness, Lady Hughes of Stretford, will agree that we should proceed with this measure, although we should do so with caution. On the basis of that, I ask her to withdraw her amendment.