Category: education

Government failure on discrimination and education law services – Legal Action

Posted February 14th, 2018 in education, equality, legal aid, news, public procurement by michael

“It’s not difficult to imagine what would happen if the government announced that it could not guarantee services for, say, something like diabetes. There would be an outcry, ministers would be hauled before parliament to answer questions and would face being skewered on Newsnight. And quite rightly so. In contrast, though, the Legal Aid Agency (LAA) announced this week that it is abandoning the procurement process for education and discrimination law advice, leaving a question mark over the continued provision of these services. So far there has been little or no furore over this decision.”

Full Story

Legal Action, February 2018

Source: www.lag.org.uk

Hate crime linked to schools in England and Wales soars – The Guardian

Posted January 30th, 2018 in education, hate crime, news, race discrimination, racism, statistics, transgender persons by sally

‘Hundreds of hate crimes have been committed at or near schools and colleges in the last two years, most rooted in race and ethnicity, figures reveal.’

Full Story

The Guardian, 29th January 2018

Source: www.theguardian.com

UK training body took out superinjunction to block critical report – The Guardian

Posted January 18th, 2018 in education, injunctions, news, reports, select committees by sally

‘Britain’s biggest training provider successfully applied for a superinjunction that stopped official inspectors from passing on a critical report to the government, it has emerged.’

Full Story

The Guardian, 16th January 2018

Source: www.theguardian.com

‘Serious failing’: inquiry to scrutinise Toby Young’s OfS appointment – The Guardian

Posted January 12th, 2018 in education, government departments, inquiries, news, universities by sally

‘An inquiry has been launched into the “serious failing” of appointing Toby Young to the board of the Office for Students without studying his long history of incendiary comments, the commissioner for public appointments has said.’

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The Guardian, 11th January 2018

Source: www.theguardian.com

Unregistered Jewish schools prompt call for new laws – BBC News

Posted January 8th, 2018 in education, Judaism, news, reports, school children by sally

‘The government must act to help up to 1,500 ultra Orthodox Jewish boys going to unregistered schools in the London borough of Hackney, says a report.’

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BBC News, 5th January 2018

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Law Pod UK Ep. 20: Assessing discrimination in faith-based state schools – 1 COR

Posted January 4th, 2018 in education, news, religious discrimination, sex discrimination by sally

‘Following Ofsted winning a judgment against an Islamic co-education state school, Rosalind English talks to Rajkiran Barhey about measuring unlawful discrimination in cases where two groups of students are treated equally, but separately, by their school.’

Full Story

Law Pod UK, 21st December 2017

Source: audioboom.com

Why Does the UK Allow Schools to Discriminate Due To Religion? – Rights Info

Posted December 18th, 2017 in education, news, religious discrimination, school admissions by sally

‘Around the world, there are very few countries which allow schools to pick pupils on the basis of their faith. The UK is one of them.’

Full Story

Rights Info, 18th December 2017

Source: rightsinfo.org

Upper Tribunal judge refuses to set aside flawed SEN school ruling – Local Government Lawyer

Posted December 14th, 2017 in costs, education, local government, news, setting aside, special educational needs by sally

‘The First Tier Tribunal made a legal error in a case concerning which school a child with special needs should attend, but not one so serious that it required its decision to be set aside, an Upper Tribunal judge has ruled.’

Full Story

Local Government Lawyer, 13th December 2017

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Are we ignoring an epidemic of sexual violence in schools? – The Guardian

Posted December 12th, 2017 in education, harassment, news, sexual offences, teachers by sally

‘In three years, 5,500 sexual offences against pupils have been reported to police. Too often staff seem ill-equipped or unwilling to deal with the problem – now pressure is mounting for the government to take action.’

Full Story

The Guardian, 12th December 2017

Source: www.theguardian.com

Retained Worker Status: When Does an EEA Student Remain a Worker for the Purposes of the EEA Regulations? – Drystone Chambers

Posted December 8th, 2017 in civil partnerships, EC law, education, immigration, news by sally

‘I was recently instructed by Sterling & Law LLP in an EEA appeal against the refusal of permanent residence. The Appellant was a non-EEA national in a civil partnership with her wife, an EEA national. The Appellant sought to establish that she was entitled to permanent residence having lived in the UK in accordance with the EEA Regulations for five years.’

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Drystone Chambers, 1st December 2017

Source: drystone.com

The Durand Academy Case and Regulatory Fairness – Blackstone Chambers

Posted November 23rd, 2017 in appeals, complaints, education, news, reports by sally

‘Durand Academy is a large school in Lambeth, serving a diverse community that has a high percentage of BAME families.’

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Blackstone Chambers, 17th November 2017

Source: www.blackstonechambers.com

Yet more on hijabs in primary schools – Law & Religion UK

Posted November 22nd, 2017 in education, Islam, news, school children by sally

‘In September, we posted an item on the controversy over small girls wearing the hijab in British nurseries and primary schools. There were various reports (eg in The Sunday Times and the Evening Standard) that “Children as young as three are being allowed to wear the hijab in British nurseries and primary schools.” The ST reported that its own survey had found that a fifth of 800 primary schools, including Church of England schools, list the hijab as part of their uniform. The Department for Education said that uniform policies were for schools to decide, adding: “If a school decided to allow a pupil to wear a burqa, that would be up to the school.” ‘

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Law & Religion UK, 20th November 2017

Source: www.lawandreligionuk.com

Working Together to Safeguard Children: changes to statutory guidance – Department for Education

Posted October 27th, 2017 in children, consultations, education, government departments, news, regulations by sally

‘This consultation seeks views on significant revisions to ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’ – the statutory guidance which sets out what is expected of organisations, individually and jointly, to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. These revisions are being made largely to reflect the legislative changes introduced through the Children and Social Work Act 2017.’

Full Story

Department for Education, 25th October 2017

Source: consult.education.gov.uk

Local authority wins tribunal case over student accommodation and council tax – Local Government Lawyer

Posted October 25th, 2017 in appeals, council tax, education, housing, local government, news, statutory interpretation, tribunals by michael

‘The Valuation Tribunal has dismissed an appeal by a student accommodation provider over the application of council tax exemptions to student flats.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 25th October 2017

Source: localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Islamic Faith School’s Gender Segregation Ruled Unlawful – RightsInfo

Posted October 16th, 2017 in education, equality, gender, Islam, news, school children, sex discrimination by sally

‘An Islamic faith school which has a policy of separating girls and boys has been told the rules are unlawful.’

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RightsInfo, 13th October 2017

Source: rightsinfo.org

UK gender inequality as bad as 10 years ago, EU league table shows – The Guardian

Posted October 12th, 2017 in education, employment, equality, gender, news, reports, sex discrimination by sally

‘Britain has made zero progress in tackling inequality between the sexes in the past decade and lags behind Sweden, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands and France in the EU’s latest gender equality league table.’

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The Guardian, 11th October 2017

Source: www.theguardian.com

Making Britain the safest place in the world to be online – Ministry of Justice

Posted October 11th, 2017 in codes of practice, education, government departments, health & safety, internet, Ministry of Justice, press releases, reports, statistics, taxation by sally

‘Britain is to become the safest place in the world to be online thanks to new proposals announced today by Culture Secretary Karen Bradley.’

Full press release

Ministry of Justice, 11th October 2017

Source: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice

Audit lays bare racial disparities in UK schools, courts and workplaces – The Guardian

Posted October 10th, 2017 in crime, education, imprisonment, news, race discrimination, reports, statistics by sally

‘White teenagers are far more likely to smoke than their minority ethnic counterparts, Roma children are falling well behind their peers at school and black men face the highest likelihood of being found guilty in court.’

Full Story

The Guardian, 9th October 2017

Source: www.theguardian.com

Ofsted reports on the inspection of services for children living with domestic abuse – Family Law

Posted September 21st, 2017 in children, domestic violence, education, health, local government, news, police, probation, reports, social services by sally

‘Ofsted, the Care Quality Commission, HM Inspectorate of Constabulary, and HM Inspectorate of Probation have published a report examining the multi-agency response to children living with domestic abuse, along with inspections of local area services.’

Full Story

Family Law, 20th September 2017

Source: www.familylaw.co.uk

Do You Have a Right Not to be Expelled From School? – RightsInfo

Posted September 21st, 2017 in education, human rights, news, school children, school exclusions by sally

‘If you’re a conscientious and polite pupil, the chances are you’ve never even thought you could get expelled from your school. However, just when is a school allowed to show you the door?’

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RightsInfo, 20th September 2017

Source: rightsinfo.org