Northern Ireland

Lords committee criticism of new relationships and sexuality education policy

A Lords Committee has criticised the lack of public consultation on a relationships and sexuality education policy in NI
A Lords Committee has criticised the lack of public consultation on a relationships and sexuality education policy in NI

A House of Lords committee has criticised the lack of public consultation on a new relationships and sexuality education policy in Northern Ireland.

It also suggests that the UK government should postpone implementation of the new legislation, which would ensure school pupils receive age-appropriate information about contraception and abortion services.

It comes after Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris said earlier this month that he was updating the requirements for relationship and sexuality education (RSE) in the Northern Ireland curriculum.

The regulations will make “age-appropriate, comprehensive and scientifically accurate education on sexual and reproductive health and rights, covering prevention of early pregnancy and access to abortion” a compulsory component of the curriculum for students.

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But a report from the cross-party House of Lords Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee has expressed concerns about the "lack of a public consultation prior to the regulations coming into effect".

It said the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) had told the committee "there was no legal requirement to conduct a consultation, but that it had engaged with a range of stakeholders and statutory organisations".

The committee said it believes "given the controversial nature of this policy and the strong views expressed in submissions to the committee (including from a range of religious denominations), a full public consultation would have been appropriate".

It also points out that other comparable policy changes, including when similar regulations were introduced in England, were subject to a public consultation before implementation.

The committee also said it has concerns that "much of the detailed implementation of the policy will fall to the Northern Ireland Department of Education" and that "some aspects of the policy underpinning the regulations, including procedures to allow parents to withdraw their children from sexuality education, may not be fully developed by the policy implementation date of 1 January 2024".

"The committee believes that this will be of considerable concern to parents in NI," the report added.

It has suggested that the date for the the regulations to be implemented should be pushed back to "allow a full consultation and to ensure the policy can be developed fully".

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick, a member of the committee, said: “This policy is highly controversial and of interest to a wide range of interested parties.

"It has united communities from across the religious divide in Northern Ireland and they have expressed their considerable concern in submissions to the committee.

"Given that, we believe that it was wrong not to hold a public consultation, especially when a consultation was conducted prior to a comparable policy change in England.

"A full public consultation can result in much improved policymaking and would also increase public confidence in a policy.

“One of the consequences of the legislation is that there is no guarantee that parents will be able to withdraw children from sexuality education from the implementation date of 1 January 2024. 

"We have therefore suggested that the House may wish to press the minister to delay the implementation date to provide an opportunity for a full public consultation.”