Rudolph Elliot Lockhart (Chief Executive Officer – Religious Education Council of England and Wales) to provide an update on the RECS Commission on Religious Education
Minutes:
Mr Rudolf Eliott Lockhart (Chief Executive Officer at the Religious Education Council of England and Wales) attended the meeting to talk about the work of the RE Council and the Commission on RE.
He stated that there were three points to consider:
(i) There was a lack of clarity around the purpose of RE.
(ii) Had RE kept up with the changes to social and demographic structure?
(iii) Were the legal structures within which RE sits, fit for purpose?
The direction of travel towards academisation of schools had raised questions about the structure of SACRE. There was a risk that if the SACRE structure crumbled there could be little to define the subject of RE. The RE Council had felt that there was a need for more debate and had created the Commission. An interim report would be available mid-2017, with the final report expected in 2018. It would include evidence based recommendations, and evidence could be submitted using the website now.
The Commission had been established formally in the summer with the remit of reviewing the legal, education, and policy frameworks for RE. The RE Council had designed the Terms of Reference, selected the Commissioners, and would provide a Secretariat, but the Commission was independent and therefore free to operate however it wants and make whatever recommendations it wants. It was made up of experts and specialists, with a breadth of different beliefs. The Commission would look at a range of RE Policy issues, and their terms of reference were available on the website (http://www.commissiononre.org.uk/).
He then responded to questions from SACRE Members and made points including the following:
· As Secretariat he had set out a possible steer for what evidence should be collected and how this should be done. This was awaiting approval from the Commission. He had suggested that the process be as open and broad as possible, with both quantitative and qualitative data important in the process.
· Fundraising was taking place for the report. The overall budget was approximately £250k. Funding had been received from a broad range of sources, and the first year was now fully funded, with the second year mostly funded.
· He was keen to consider different elements to the Commission, and would be open to discussions with representatives from other subjects.
· The Commission, as part of their review were likely to make recommendations that might require primary legislation. This could not be guaranteed, so they were also looking at policy areas which would not require primary legislation. There would be other useful outcomes from the review, such as collating information about RE and providing a vision for what RE might mean that could be valuable for teachers and other RE professionals.
· The Terms of Reference excluded collective worship or admissions and staffing at schools of religious character. These topics had been left out due to political reasons.
· The Commission had done all they could to make the project succeed. There were no other bodies which were equivalent to the REC, and they had been open with the Government about the work they were doing.
· SACRE’s input was valued, and many of the Commissioners had substantial SACRE experience.
The Chairman thanked Mr Eliott Lockhart for attending the meeting, and advised that SACRE would get involved in commenting on the report.