Liam Byrne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2015-10-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the framework is for assessing quality of education and inspecting standards and safety in settings where children are instructed in madrassas.

Edward Timpson

Local authorities are responsible for safeguarding children in their areas, regardless of where they are educated. The statutory guidance on the Prevent Duty[1] makes it clear that local authorities should take steps to understand the range of out of school settings, such as supplementary schools and tuition centres, in their area and take appropriate steps to ensure that children attending such settings are properly safeguarded.

The Prime Minister has recently announced that supplementary schools which provide intensive education will need to register themselves for inspection. The government’s counter-extremism strategy[2] sets out our intentions to introduce this system. We will be consulting on this regulatory framework.

Intervention will apply if there are concerns about the safety or welfare of the children attending these supplementary schools. Where institutions are teaching intolerance we will not hesitate to take action. We are consulting on the coverage of this proposed scheme, which is likely to include some madrasa schools.

[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prevent-duty-guidance

[2] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/counter-extremism-strategy

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