My Lords, I too thank Tom Perry and Mandate Now, who have been advocating for mandatory reporting for many years, all the survivors of abuse at schools who have been in contact with me, and indeed some of the teachers who have written to me about how difficult it was for them after they reported abuse at their school.
The noble Lord, Lord Lucas, made a slightly jokey but important point about the Secretary of State’s powers, but the difference with Amendment 171Z is that those powers are detailed in the Bill. It is not giving a blind, blank cheque to the Secretary of State to produce regulations that Parliament cannot then comment on. I do not know whether others have better suggestions about who should take those powers. Clearly, somebody has to be able to do it for independent schools. Under the earlier parts of the Bill, it seems the Secretary of State is doing everything else as well. If we can get changes, that may work.
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I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Grey-Thompson, for supporting my amendment. She made a strong case for widening mandatory reporting beyond schools, and I look forward to supporting her in her Private Member’s Bill. The noble Baroness, Lady Wilcox, rightly commented on the new safeguarding guidance, and I am grateful that she also thinks more needs to be done.
I thank the Minister for her response and look forward to receiving her letter detailing specific answers to the questions I raised. However, having regard to keeping children safe is not enough. One of the reasons it is not enough, I am afraid, is that child sex abuse is still happening and not being reported, even when teachers and other staff have suspicions. It is also not good enough just to rely on Ofsted to report when it inspects, though that is vital. It needs to happen as soon as any suspicion is raised.
The hour is late, so I plan to withdraw my amendment, but I will consider bringing it back on Report following receipt of the letter from the Minister. In the meantime, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment.