Hot on the heels of backing down on the 25% quota promise (see next story), the Government is now trying to scrap a law that specifically prohibits discrimination against staff in religious schools based on their religious views or church attendance. The two groups most at risk are teaching assistants in ‘faith’ schools controlled by the churches (voluntary aided) and head teachers in ‘faith’ schools controlled by local authorities (voluntary controlled).
The Government’s clandestine move (whose “genesis was in the CofE”) was made in the House of Lords at the latest possible stage in the passage of the Education and Inspections Bill last week. It put down the amendment at the last possible moment, and, it has been suggested, deliberately worded the amendment to sound innocuous. No announcement was made of the intention of the state to allow, even in effect to encourage, discrimination where there had been none before. The unions were not even informed, far less consulted.
The NSS’s Executive Director Keith Porteous Wood alerted our Honorary Associate, Baroness Turner of Camden, to the huge implication of what the Government was trying to do and of the need to completely reverse it. She immediately told the Government minister in the Chamber while the debate was still in progress that we would be bring forward amendments to oppose it. Baroness Turner agreed with our counter-attack strategy and kindly tabled amendments accordingly. We are delighted to have sponsorship of the amendments from all major parties, with fellow Honorary Associates Baronesses Massey and Flather joining long-time Human Rights campaigner Lord Avebury (formerly Rt Hon Eric Lubbock MP).
Until we alerted them, no peer had realised the significance of the amendments, nor had the unions even though they have specialist parliamentary staff. We briefed them over the weekend and the early part of the week. We have urged them and the TUC to complain to the Minister. The next stage of the debate is on Monday 30th October.
Keith Porteous Wood commented: “No wonder the Government has kept these stealthily introduced amendments from the unions. It has betrayed tens of thousands of non-religious teachers and support staff who until now would be selected if they were the best candidate for a job. Now, even though these are publicly-funded jobs, piety will trump all. And those who are prepared to pretend they believe will win out over their colleagues who are not. It leaves the career path of thousands of non-religious staff perhaps even the majority in tatters. They have reason to be very, very, angry. Their unions need to make their views known in no uncertain terms to ministers in Whitehall well before the final Lords stage of the Education and Inspection Bill on 30th October. The unions must force the Government to back down.”
(NSS October 2006)