Government blocks Labour bid to make sex education compulsory

A total of 23 female Labour MPs, including MP for Walthamstow Stella Creasy and shadow children's minister Emma Lewell-Buck, had tabled an amendment to the bill that would place a duty on local authorities to ensure all children in their areas received personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education.

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. 

Education watchdog Ofsted would carry out targeted inspections of provision as part of safeguarding requirements, and pupils would be able to withdraw from the lessons if requested, as is currently the case with existing SRE provision.

But Conservative MPs blocked the move, defeating Labour's amendment by 10 votes to five following an hour-long debate during a public bill committee meeting.

SRE is currently a compulsory curriculum in maintained schools, where it is inspected by Ofsted, but academies and free schools can choose whether to follow government guidelines on the subject.

Speaking in favour of the amendment, Creasy argued that the government was failing to ensure all pupils have access to the information they require by only providing guidance on SRE provision. She said legislation was the only way to ensure children are educated appropriately.

She said public support for including statutory SRE in the bill was "overwhelming".

"Frameworks and guidance are what we have had for the past six years, and we are not making progress," she said.

"Ofsted looks at the provision of sex and relationships education, as we have seen, and has shown that it is of poor quality in many schools right now. However, at the moment it is not part of the safeguarding duty that they inspect.

"By making it part of the safeguarding duty, the measure gives Ofsted stronger powers to push schools to do it."

A number of Conservative MPs spoke in support of Creasy's proposals, but children's minister Edward Timpson said he was unconvinced that legislating for statutory SRE was the best way to improve its teaching.

He said the government was committed to "exploring all the options to improve delivery of SRE". But added that Creasy would have to be "more patient so that we can ensure that we make the right response that can come to fruition".

The debate follows research from charity Barnardo's released yesterday that found 70 per cent of 11- to 15-year-olds want the government to make SRE teaching a statutory requirements for schools.