Moved by
That the Bill do now pass.
(Lab)
My Lords, I beg to move that this Bill do now pass, and in doing
so I thank noble Lords on all sides, Jamie Agombar from Teach the
Future, Ann Finlayson from SEEd and members of Peers for the
Planet for their support. There are many outside organisations,
both environmental and educational, which have met with me,
discussed this and given great encouragement. Finally, I thank
, who has agreed to take
this forward in the other place.
I hope that the Bill encourages the Government to build on the
consultation the Secretary of State launched at COP 26 on 5
November, and to firm up on the direction of travel set out in
that strategy by moving from a voluntarist approach to something
that has rather more teeth. I hope they can embrace that as this
is debated in the other place.
(Lab)
My Lords, can I just say a word before my own Front Bench
responds? I congratulate my noble friend on this legislative
endeavour and, crucially, the debate it has initiated both in
this House and across the education sector. Citizenship education
would be enhanced if we were able to add to the existing
curriculum, as my noble friend Lord Knight indicated, this
critical issue for the future.
Given the geopolitics of the moment—the crisis facing Ukraine,
the energy issues that reverberate from that conflict and the
Russian action against a sovereign country—it is absolutely
crucial that we have in our schools and colleges the necessary
education, enthusiasm and commitment to ensure that we get this
right for the future.
(Lab)
My Lords, we are all indebted to my noble friend Lord Knight for
bringing this Bill forward and, in doing so, drawing on his
long-established commitment to and campaigning on sustainability
and environmental education.
At earlier stages of the Bill, both the Minister and her
predecessor said the Bill was unnecessary as schools could be
trusted to teach pupils about the issues that combine to create
the climate emergency as part of citizenship education. But young
people themselves tell us that that is not enough. The Government
should—and, I believe, could—support it as one way of reinforcing
the messages they sent out at COP 26. I know that is not going to
happen, but we on these Benches support my noble friend’s Bill
and wish it well in another place.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for
Education () (Con)
My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, , for highlighting
this very important issue. While the Government agree with the
sentiment of the Bill, as the noble Lord, Lord Watson, just
suggested, they do not believe that amending the curriculum is
the right way to encourage pupils to learn about a sustainable
environment. The subjects of citizenship, science and geography
all include content on sustainability and the environment, and
schools have the autonomy to go into as much depth on these
subjects as they see fit.
We are taking action to support schools to develop further pupil
knowledge and skills in relation to these very important issues.
Our draft sustainability and climate change strategy, which we
announced at COP 26, set out two new initiatives: the national
education nature park and the climate leaders award. Together,
these schemes will build on knowledge gained in the classroom to
provide practical opportunities for all pupils to learn more
about nature and biodiversity, develop key digital skills that
are essential components to solving climate change and be
empowered to take positive action. Alongside this, teachers will
have access to improved training in climate education, including
a primary science module curriculum, science CPD and free access
to high-quality resources. We have engaged widely and plan to
publish the final strategy in April.
(Lab)
My Lords, I am grateful to my noble friends and Lord Watson—particularly
my noble friend , who is the father of
citizenship in our schools. I think my noble friend Lord Watson’s
comments about the views of young people that autonomy is not
delivering are shared by teachers. If the Minister, or her
colleague , had the appetite and the time
to meet with me and Darren Jones before the Bill goes to the
other place, we would be very grateful.
(Con)
Either I or, even better, my honourable friend in the other place
would be delighted to meet with the noble Lord.
Bill passed and sent to the Commons.
