The Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, the Rt Hon Ed Balls MP, tabled an amendment to the Children, Schools and Families Bill on 10 February 2010 designed to protect the ability of schools with a religious character to teach Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) Education (which includes Sex and Relationships Education (SRE)) in accordance with the ethos of the school.

The amendment was tabled following a period of extensive lobbying by the Catholic Education Service for England and Wales, and reads as follows:

Page  14,  line  6  [Clause  11],  at end insert—

‘(7A)    Subsections (4) to (7) are not to be read as preventing the governing body or head teacher of a school within subsection (7B) from causing or allowing PSHE to be taught in a way that reflects the school’s religious character.

(7B)    A school is within this subsection if it is designated as a school having a religious character by an order made by the Secretary of State under section 69(3) of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998.’.

Links to the Children, Schools and Families Bill and to the list of tabled amendments may be found below.