Tue, 13 November 07 | House of Lords - Written Answer

Faith Schools

Lord Baker of Dorking asked Her Majesty's Government:

When Ofsted will be prepared to examine whether applications for new exclusive faith schools add to community cohesion. [HL82]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Children, Schools and Families (Lord Adonis): The Education and Inspections Act 2006 placed a new duty on the governing bodies of maintained schools-including, but not limited to, maintained faith schools-to promote community cohesion. It is planned that Ofsted will inspect all maintained schools for their contribution to community cohesion from September 2008 onwards as part of its normal school inspection cycle.

Also, since May 2003 all proposals for new maintained schools-again including, but not limited to, maintained faith schools-have had to include information on how the proposed school will contribute to community cohesion. Under current decision-making arrangements, the local authority or schools adjudicator must be satisfied that the proposals for new schools will meet the duty to promote community cohesion.