Faith-based youth work ‘at risk'

Christian organisations have called on the government to scrap plans to require out-of-school education settings, including church youth groups, to register with a local authority and be open to inspection by Ofsted as part of measures to tackle religious extremism.

The call – by Christian Action Research & Education (Care), Christian Concerns, Evangelical Alliance, Lawyers’ Christian Fellowship and The Christian Institute – came in a joint statement opposing the Department for Education plans (see below), under consultation earlier this year.

Nola Leach, chief executive of Care, says the organisations support the government’s drive to tackle extremism, but that the proposals are “an example of the state over-reaching”.

“It is almost inevitable that some churches will be caught up in the government’s counter-extremism drive and could face censorship if traditional Christian teachings are deemed ‘undesirable’,” she says.

“Because the government’s definition of ‘British values’ is open to interpretation and is a very subjective concept, it is extremely likely churches will face inspection from Ofsted. In today’s climate of advancing secularism and religious illiteracy, the likelihood of malicious complaints being made against churches is very high.”

Some of the activities churches offer to children and young people include Sunday schools, special youth services, summer camps and holiday bible classes.

Leach fears that if the plans are approved, they could discourage churches from running such youth work programmes.

“Forcing churches to register so they can legally teach children Christian values could discourage some churches from running youth work programmes in communities that highly value the contribution the church is making,” says Leach.

“The chances are some leaders will decide to stop youth groups and other activities rather than face the additional bureaucracy caused by the government’s proposals.”  

Intrusive questions

She adds that the prospect of children and young people attending religious groups being asked questions by inspectors is highly intrusive.

“Ofsted would be used to inspect all manner of youth activities – not just confined to churches – which would be costly, time consuming and we think the government has underestimated how stretched Ofsted would become.”

Matt Lent, director of partnerships and policy at UK Youth, which recently took over safeguarding services run by the now defunct National Council for Voluntary Youth Services, says the plans could have a negative impact on voluntary organisations’ ability to operate effectively.

“Voluntary organisations that work with young people already have rigorous expectations placed upon them for the health and safety of the young people in their care, as well as comprehensive child protection guidelines and established processes for reporting and escalating concerns,” he says.
 
“Additional bureaucracy placed upon these services could have a detrimental effect on their ability to operate. Therefore, potentially creating additional barriers to the very services that aim to provide a safe environment for young people to engage in positive and productive activity.”

Instead of introducing inspections for community provision, UK Youth says the government should offer more support and guidance. This approach should be offered “to help church youth groups to manage the welfare and safety of their young people effectively, with the additional offer of consultancy and a non-punitive review of services, with applicable recommendations” Lent adds.

In their statement, the Christian organisations urged the government to develop a targeted, intelligence-led approach that will tackle violent extremists. Leach says there is already a raft of existing anti-terrorism legislation to do that.

“The government should use existing intelligence to specifically target areas where there is genuine cause for concern,” she says.

“We do not believe churches are environments where extremists are being trained.”

What has been proposed

The Department for Education proposals for out-of-school education settings are designed to help the government tackle religious extremism. It plans to introduce a system that will allow Ofsted to intervene when the safety of children attending a setting is deemed to be at risk.

The plans would apply to any out-of-school education setting providing tuition, training or instruction to children aged 19 or under for more than six to eight hours a week in England that is not a school, college, 16 to 19 academy or registered childcare provider. These settings, including church youth groups, would have to register with their local authority and be open to investigation and intervention when concerns are reported.

The DfE’s consultation paper says the registration requirement would be “light-touch”, allowing settings to provide basic details on their location, proprietors, education offer and numbers of children.

It says the registration process would be straightforward with no minimum pre-conditions, but there would be an expectation that new providers register before operating, and existing settings would be given a reasonable period of time to register.

In addition, it has proposed that Ofsted carries out the “risk-based” inspections, either in response to specific concerns raised by children, parents and the community, or by sampling settings by type or region.

Prohibited activities would be defined as settings failing to adequately ensure the safety of the children in their care; appointing unsuitable staff; carrying out undesirable teaching such as promoting extremist views; administering corporal punishment; and teaching children in premises that pose a threat to their welfare.

The DfE says the government’s response to the consultation will be published in due course.

Source: The Department for Education – Out-of-school education settings: call for evidence (government consultation)