Education (No. 2) Act 1986: Difference between revisions

|amendments=[[Education Reform Act 1988]]<br />[[Further and Higher Education Act 1992]]<br />[[Education Act 1996]]<br />[[Education Act 2002]]<br />[[Higher Education and Research Act 2017]]

The '''Education (No. 2) Act 1986''' is an [[Act of Parliament (UK)|Act]] of the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom]] that made various legal changes to [[education in the United Kingdom|education in the UK]]. Though introduced to the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] by his immediate successor [[Kenneth Baker, Baron Baker of Dorking|Kenneth Baker]],<ref>{{Hansard|1986/jun/10/education-bill-lords|title=Education Bill [Lords]|accessdate=14 May 2021}}</ref> the Act was prepared by [[Margaret Thatcher]]'s second [[Secretary of State for Education|Education Secretary]], [[Keith Joseph]], an ideological opponent of "[[statism]]" who sought to empower parents against local bureaucrats.<ref name="Lawton">{{cite book|last=Lawton|first=David|year=2005|title=Education and Labour Party Ideologies, 1900–2001 and Beyond|place=Abingdon|publisher=Routledge|url=https://books.google.co.ukcom/books?id=63Ttlau5GjYC|page=102|isbn=9780415347761}}</ref>

To this end, the Act redefined the respective roles of the government, parents, [[local education authority|local education authorities]] (LEAs), and head teachers in school governance, giving parents equal representation with LEAs on [[school governor|school governing bodies]] and establishing for the first time a duty to hold [[Parent-teacher conference|parents' meetings]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Ranson|first=Stewart|year=1990|chapter=Education|editor-last=Deakin|editor-first=Nicholas|editor-last2=Wright|editor-first2=Anthony|title=Consuming Public Services|place=Abingdon|publisher=Routledge|url=https://books.google.co.ukcom/books?id=Yt83lBvu79YC|pages=182–200: 190|isbn=1134968701}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|editor-last=Hollis|editor-first=Guy|editor-last2=Ham|editor-first2=Gail|editor-last3=Ambler|editor-first3=Mark|year=1992|title=The Future Role and Structure of Local Government|url=https://books.google.co.ukcom/books?id=pdwHAQAAMAAJ&q=%22Education+(No.+2)+Act+1986%22|place=Harlow|publisher=Longman|page=79|isbn=9780582212855}}</ref> It also prohibited [[corporal punishment]] in [[state school]]s and [[independent school]]s receiving public funding, paving the way for its complete abolition in 1998,<ref>{{cite book|last=Archbold|year=2000|first=Claire|chapter=Family Law-Making and Human Rights in the United Kingdom|editor-last=Maclean|editor-first=Mavis|title=Making Law for Families|place=Oxford and Portland|publisher=Hart|pages=185–208: 196}}</ref> and forbade "political indoctrination" by teachers in schools.<ref name="Lawton" />

Section 43 of the Act, which remains in force, imposes a duty on [[university|universities]] to protect [[freedom of speech]], and in particular to ensure that "the use of any premises of the establishment is not denied to any individual or body of persons" on account of their beliefs.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.monckton.com/free-speech-in-universities/|title=Free speech in Universities|last=Suterwalla|first=Azeem|publisher=Monckton Chambers|date=17 February 2021|accessdate=14 May 2021}}</ref> This measure was originally introduced in response to disruptive student protests and the rise of "[[No Platform|no platform]]" policies among student activists in the mid-1980s, and was included in the Act after pressure by the [[House of Lords]] following an earlier [[private member's bill]] to protect freedom of speech in universities sponsored by Conservative backbencher [[Fred Silvester]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Smith|first=Evan|year=2020|title=No Platform: A History of Anti-Fascism, Universities and the Limits of Free Speech|publisher=Routledge|place=Abingdon|url=https://books.google.co.ukcom/books?id=LuDaDwAAQBAJ|page=135|isbn=9780429847813}}</ref> In 2021, the Conservative government of [[Boris Johnson]] brought forward a [[Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill]] that would extend this duty to [[students' union]]s.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/english-universities-fear-legal-minefield-under-free-speech-bill|title=English universities fear legal minefield under free speech bill|last=Morgan|first=John|newspaper=[[Times Higher Education]]|date=12 May 2021|accessdate=14 May 2021|url-access=registration}}</ref>