HL Deb 07 November 2000 vol 618 cc144-5WA
Lord Tope

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether in the light of the judgment in the Manchester County Court on 11 October by Judge Richard Holman awarding damages against Trafford Education Authority to a school pupil who had suffered a lengthy period of bullying, they will issue new guidance reminding schools that they have a duty of care to protect pupils from homophobic bullying and requiring them to include in personal, social and health education programmes lessons which lead pupils to understand the problems which young gay and lesbian people face. [HL4462]

Baroness Blackstone

We will be issuing shortly the revised version of my department's anti-bullying pack for schools. This will include, among other things, advice on how to tackle bullying related to sexual orientation. The framework for personal, social and health education, introduced this September, provides opportunities for pupils to learn how to respect the differences between people. Our sex and relationship education guidance published in July makes clear that schools need to be able to deal properly with bullying related to sexual orientation.