Moved by
Baroness Barran
54: Before Clause 25, insert the following new Clause—
“Offence of providing or arranging a relevant service
(1) It is an offence for a person to provide, or arrange for another person to provide, in commercial circumstances, a relevant service for a student in relation to a relevant assignment.
(2) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable on summary conviction to a fine.
(3) In proceedings for an offence under subsection (1) it is a defence for the defendant to prove, in relation to any of the matters mentioned in subsection (4), that the defendant did not know, and could not with reasonable diligence have known, the matter.
(4) Those matters are—
(a) if material is provided to the student as a result of the relevant service, that the student would or might use the material in completing all or part of the assignment;
(b) that the student was required to complete the assignment personally;
(c) that the relevant service was not permitted assistance.
(5) A statement in the form of a written standard term of the contract or arrangement under which the relevant service was provided or arranged—
(a) that the student would not use any material provided as a result of the relevant service in completing all or part of the assignment,
(b) that the student was not required to complete the assignment personally, or
(c) that the relevant service was permitted assistance,
is not, of itself, to be taken as sufficient evidence of a matter to be proved under subsection (3).
(6) A student does not commit either of the following merely by making use of a relevant service to complete all or part of an assignment—
(a) an offence under Part 2 of the Serious Crime Act 2007 where the offence that the student intended or believed would be committed is an offence under this section;
(b) an offence under this section committed by aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring the commission of an offence under this section.”
Member’s explanatory statement
This new Clause creates an offence of providing, or arranging the provision of, a relevant service as defined in new Clause (Meaning of “relevant service” and other key expressions) in relation to an assignment which the student is required to complete personally, and provides for defences where the defendant proves certain matters.
55: Before Clause 25, insert the following new Clause—
“Offence of advertising a relevant service
(1) A person who advertises a relevant service to students commits an offence.
(2) It does not matter for the purposes of subsection (1) whether the persons to whom the relevant service is advertised are only students, or only a particular category of students, or include persons other than students.
(3) For this purpose a person advertises a relevant service if, and only if, the person makes arrangements for an advertisement in which the person—
(a) offers, or
(b) is described or presented as available or competent,
to provide or arrange for another person to provide a relevant service.
(4) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable on summary conviction to a fine.”
Member’s explanatory statement
This new Clause makes it an offence for a person who provides or arranges (or would provide or arrange) a relevant service as defined in new Clause (Meaning of “relevant service” and other key expressions) to advertise that service to students.
56: Before Clause 25, insert the following new Clause—
“Offences: bodies corporate and unincorporated associations
(1) If an offence under this Chapter committed by a body corporate is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to neglect on the part of—
(a) a director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate, or
(b) a person who was purporting to act in any such capacity,
that person (as well as the body corporate) is guilty of that offence and liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
(2) Where the affairs of a body corporate are managed by its members, subsection (1) applies in relation to the acts and defaults of a member in connection with the member’s functions of management as it applies to a director of the body corporate.
(3) Proceedings for an offence alleged to have been committed under this Chapter by an unincorporated body are to be brought in the name of that body (and not in the name of its members) and, for the purposes of any such proceedings, any rules of court relating to the service of documents have effect as if that body were a corporation.
(4) A fine imposed on an unincorporated body on its conviction of an offence under this Chapter is to be paid out of the funds of that body.
(5) If an unincorporated body is charged with an offence under this Chapter, section 33 of the Criminal Justice Act 1925 and Schedule 3 to the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980 apply as they apply in relation to a body corporate.
(6) Where an offence under this Chapter committed by an unincorporated body other than a partnership is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to neglect on the part of, any officer of the body or any member of its governing body, that person (as well as the body) is guilty of the offence and liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
(7) Where an offence under this Chapter committed by a partnership is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to neglect on the part of, a partner, that partner (as well as the body) is guilty of the offence and liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.”
Member’s explanatory statement
This new Clause contains rules that apply where offences under the new Chapter (Cheating services provided for post-16 students at English institutions) are committed by companies and unincorporated associations.
57: Before Clause 25, insert the following new Clause—
“Interpretation of Chapter
In this Chapter, the following terms have the following meanings—
“assignment” includes an examination and any piece of work;
“examination” includes any form of assessment;
“permitted assistance”, in relation to a relevant assignment, has the meaning given by section (Meaning of “relevant service” and other key expressions)(8);
“personally”, in relation to an assignment that is a relevant assignment, has the extended meaning given by section (Meaning of “relevant service” and other key expressions)(8);
“post-16 institution” means—
(a) a higher education provider, within the meaning of Part 1 of the Higher Education and Research Act 2017 (see section 83(1) of that Act);
(b) an institution within the further education sector, within the meaning of the Further and Higher Education Act 1992 (see section 91(3) of that Act);
(c) a 16 to 19 Academy;
(d) any other institution or person, other than a school, that is principally concerned with the provision of education or training suitable to the requirements of pupils who are over compulsory school age;
“regulated qualification” means a qualification regulated by the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation;
“relevant assignment” has the meaning given by section (Meaning of “relevant service” and other key expressions) (7);
“relevant course” means—
(a) a course of any description mentioned in Schedule 6 to the Education Reform Act 1988, or
(b) a course—
(i) providing education or training in preparation for an examination relating to a regulated qualification, or
(ii) which a person is required to complete in order to obtain a regulated qualification;
“relevant service” has the meaning given by section (Meaning of “relevant service” and other key expressions) (2);
“school” has the same meaning as in the Education Act 1996;
“sixth form” means a school, or part of a school, that is principally concerned with the provision of full-time education suitable to the requirements of pupils who are over compulsory school age;
“student” has the meaning given by section (Meaning of “relevant service” and other key expressions) (6).”
Member’s explanatory statement
This new Clause defines certain terms used in the new Chapter (Cheating services provided for post-16 students at English institutions).
58: Before Clause 25, insert the following new Clause—
“16 to 19 Academies: designation as having a religious character
16 to 19 Academy: designation as having a religious character
After section 8 of the Academies Act 2010 insert—
“16 to 19 Academies designated as having a religious character
8A Designation of 16 to 19 Academy as having a religious character
(1) The Secretary of State may by order designate a 16 to 19 Academy as having a religious character.
(2) The Secretary of State may designate an Academy under this section only if the proprietor of the Academy is a qualifying Academy proprietor within the meaning given by section 12(2).
(3) The order must specify the religion or religious denomination in relation to which the Academy is designated.
(4) The Secretary of State may make regulations about the procedure to be followed in connection with—
(a) the designation of an Academy in an order under this section, and
(b) the inclusion in such an order of the specification required by subsection (3).
(5) Despite section 568(3) of EA 1996 (orders to be made by statutory instrument subject to the negative procedure), as applied by section 17(4) of this Act, a statutory instrument containing an order under this section is not subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.
8B Constitution of Academy proprietor, collective worship and religious education
(1) The articles of association of the proprietor of an Academy designated under section 8A must provide for a majority of the directors of the proprietor to be persons appointed for the purposes of securing, so far as practicable, that—
(a) the character of the designated Academy reflects the tenets of the religion or religious denomination in relation to which the Academy is designated, and
(b) in a case where there is a trust deed affecting the designated Academy, the Academy is conducted in accordance with it.
(2) The proprietor of an Academy designated under section 8A may (accordingly) conduct the Academy in a way that secures that the character of the Academy reflects the tenets of the religion or religious denomination in relation to which the Academy is designated (and, in particular, in a way that is in accordance with any trust deed affecting the Academy).
(3) The proprietor of an Academy designated under section 8A must ensure that at an appropriate time on at least one day in each week during which the Academy is open an act of collective worship is held at the Academy which pupils at the Academy may attend.
(4) The act of collective worship must—
(a) be in such form as to comply with the provisions of any trust deed affecting the Academy, and
(b) reflect the traditions and practices of the religion or religious denomination in relation to which the Academy is designated.
(5) The proprietor of an Academy designated under section 8A must ensure that religious education is provided at the Academy for all pupils who wish to receive it.
(6) The proprietor of an Academy is to be treated as complying with subsection (5) if religious education is provided at a time or times at which it is convenient for the majority of full-time pupils to attend.
(7) For the purposes of this section religious education may take the form of a course of lectures or classes, or of single lectures or classes provided on a regular basis, and may include a course of study leading to an examination or the award of a qualification.
(8) The form and content of religious education provided under this section—
(a) must be in accordance with the provisions of any trust deed affecting the Academy, and
(b) must not be contrary to the traditions of the religion or religious denomination in relation to which the Academy is designated,
but is otherwise to be determined from time to time by the proprietor of the Academy.
(9) Notwithstanding section 17(4), in this section—
“pupil” means a person receiving education at the 16 to 19 Academy;
“trust deed” includes any instrument (other than the articles or memorandum of association) regulating the constitution of the proprietor of the Academy or the maintenance, management or conduct of the Academy.””
Member’s explanatory statement
This amendment makes provision about the collective worship and religious education to be provided at a 16 to 19 Academy designated by the Secretary of State as having a religious character, and about the appointment of directors of the proprietor of such an Academy.