PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Relationships and Sex Education (12 September 2018)

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to his oral statement of 19 July 2018, Official Report, column 615 on Relationships and Sex Education, to which case law he was referring when he said that a right for parents to withdraw their child up to 18 years of age is no longer compatible with English case law or the European convention on human rights.

Asked by:
Sir Edward Leigh (Conservative)

With regard to the parental right to withdraw their child from sex education, we have proposed regulations that are compatible with the law as it now stands. The case law in relation to a child’s competence to make their own decisions has evolved over time. This is shown, for example, in the 2006 case of R (Axon) v Secretary of State for Health.

The draft regulations and associated guidance are currently subject to consultation. They include our proposed approach to the right for children to be withdrawn from sex education. The consultation closes on 7 November, and can be accessed via this link: https://consult.education.gov.uk/pshe/relationships-education-rse-health-education/.

Answered by:
Nick Gibb (Conservative)
15 October 2018