My Lords, I speak in support of Amendment 464 knowing that, had my right reverend friend the Bishop of Lincoln been in his place, he would very much have wanted to contribute to the debate. If passed, this amendment would introduce a duty on schools to record and report any incidents of racism or faith-based bullying on school premises. It would also help diocesan boards of education in collating and monitoring such cases and better assisting those church schools which might benefit from support.

In preparing for this speech, I spoke to our own director of education in Chelmsford diocese, whose team oversees 139 church schools. She told me that this proposed amendment had the potential to help the board of education strengthen anti-bullying and inclusive practices in partnership with schools.

Every child deserves to feel safe at school, yet we know that racist and faith-based bullying is a significant driver behind school exclusions. A report published last year by The Difference and the IPPR revealed that black Caribbean children are 1.5 times more likely to find themselves permanently excluded from schools than the national population. Irish Traveller children are three times more likely, and Romani, or Gypsy, and Roma children are four times more likely.

Last November, the Traveller Movement published its Fought not Taught report, which traced examples of coercive exclusions from school settings. The organisation defines “institutionally coerced exclusion” as a situation in which a school setting, either through action or inaction, becomes a toxic environment with

“conditions that make it untenable or unsafe” for a child to remain enrolled. To name one example, the Traveller Movement’s research has revealed that, tragically,

“67% of young Gypsies and Travellers in London had experienced bullying from teachers that they felt was directly linked to their ethnicity”.

In relation to that, my right reverend friend the Bishop of Lincoln will host the launch of the Traveller Movement’s follow-up publication on Thursday 23 October in your Lordships’ House.

Tell MAMA, or Measuring Anti-Muslim Attacks, is an independent and confidential support service to record incidents of Islamophobia in the UK. Between 2023 and 2024, there was a 43% increase in the number of reported hate crimes targeting Muslims. Some 10% of these incidents occurred in a place of education. To make matters worse, parents often feel that their concerns are ignored due to a lack of formal mechanisms for accountability. Maintaining a clear record of incidents is the first step towards building trust and fostering more collaborative partnerships between parents, schools and local authorities.

However, this amendment would take one step further. For the collective safety and well-being of all pupils, educational environments must be prepared to take concrete action to address and, crucially, to prevent racism. By requiring schools to record actions taken in response when incidents occur, we could ensure that actively anti-racist practice in our schools is the expectation, not the exception.

In 2021, the Archbishops’ Anti-Racism Taskforce published From Lament to Action, which set out recommendations to eradicate racism in the Church of England. Education surfaced as a priority area for action, with commitments to ensure racial justice featuring as a core element of curriculum, staff training and school assemblies. There is, of course, much more work to be done, but this amendment would enable us to make long overdue progress.