Lord Ouseley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Ouseley on 2016-05-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to tackle persistent staff segregation by gender at some independent faith schools, as recently identified by the Chief Inspector of Schools.

Lord Nash

Independent schools have to meet the standards set in regulations. If segregation results in disadvantage for pupils of one gender, either directly or through inappropriate modelling of gender roles through staff segregation visible to pupils, then it is likely that the standards have not been met and regulatory action by this Department will follow. If there is a possibility that staff segregation disadvantages staff of one gender and there may be a direct breach of the Equality Act 2010, we will not hesitate to make a referral to the Equality and Human Rights Commission.