Brexit 'risks delaying' push for compulsory SRE, warns Creasy
Neil Puffett
Monday, February 13, 2017
The Brexit process risks taking up so much parliamentary time that unless legislation to make sex and relationships education (SRE) compulsory is pushed through now, it could be years before another opportunity emerges, Labour MP Stella Creasy has warned.
In an interview with CYP Now, Creasy, who is currently pushing for amendments to the Children and Social Work Bill to require all schools to teach the subject, said she is frustrated that the government remains resistant to the idea, despite most parents and teachers backing it.
"We have been campaigning on this for seven years now," Creasy said.
"Three times there have been opportunities and three times the government has kicked it back.
"I'm afraid Brexit is going to fill up every corner of parliamentary time in the coming years. If we don't make progress now it could be years before we do."
Last month Conservative members of a committee scrutinising the Children and Social Work Bill blocked a Labour attempt, led by Creasy, to add an amendment to the legislation that would have made SRE compulsory.
Labour's proposals would have stipulated that statutory PSHE lessons would have to include education on sex and relationships, same-sex relationships, sexual consent, sexual violence and domestic violence, with education watchdog Ofsted carrying out targeted inspections of provision as part of safeguarding requirements.
The government has said it is preparing to update guidance on PSHE in order to improve its teaching and provision suggesting that such a move would be as effective as making it compulsory.
However, Creasy is in favour of further attempts to amend the Children Social Work Bill as it makes its way through parliament, arguing that anything other than making SRE compulsory will not be satisfactory.
"It is clear guidance needs to change as it was written 17 years ago, but that is a different issue to whether every young person has a legal right to this support," she said.
"That requires legislation. We are looking for it to cover every school and for young people not to be excluded for prejudicial reasons."
She added that she is concerned by Conservative MPs talking about the need for some young people coming from particular cultures or religious backgrounds needing to be protected.
"It is a myth that talking to young people about sex will make them have more sex," Creasy says.
"There does seem to be some resistance based on those kinds of views and I find that very concerning.
"The opinion polls tell us that, overwhelmingly, most parents and teachers support this. Young people themselves criticise the level of lessons that they have.
"There is a general support for it. What there has been in the past, and still is, is a concern that some people may be against it, which has meant no progress at all."
The bid to make SRE compulsory is backed by a number of organisations including Barnardo's, which in January published research that found that 70 per cent of 11- to 15-year-olds are keen for the subject to be made statutory.
In November 2016 the chairs of five parliamentary committees wrote to Education Secretary Justine Greening demanding the change.
