50. The DfES currently provides some funding for anti-bullying work along with guidance for schools. There is no ring fenced funding at local authority or school level. Schools must have an anti-bullying policy and also have duties under the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2002 to have an anti-racism policy and report racist incidents. The Children's Commissioner suggested that the Department's approach was not necessarily what children and young people wanted:

"Government has combined its tightening of the statutory framework and its varied support programmes with the clear and understandable message that bullies should always be punished. Children and young people, including victims of bullying, often favour problem-solving, mediated approaches."[72]

On the other hand, the Anti-Bullying Alliance suggests that a zero-tolerance approach is the correct approach to take.[73] The Department has, however, supported mediation approaches. During Anti-Bullying week 2006, the Department announced increased funding, from £200000 in 2006-07 to £480000 in 2007-08, for the ChildLine in Partnerships (CHIPS) programmes that trains peer mentors. The Don't Suffer in Silence pack for schools includes a variety of approaches that can be used as part of a school's anti-bullying programme.

Research

51. A general feeling among the witnesses the Committee spoke to was that bullying has been decreasing slowly. However, this assessment is not universally shared. A report from Barnsley Council's Children's Services Scrutiny Commission says that calls received by Childline about bullying have increased year on year since 2003. During focus group sessions that the Scrutiny Committee held with pupils, none felt that bullying was decreasing, some felt that it had plateaued and some felt that it was increasing.[74] However witnesses also mentioned the difficulty in commenting on general trends in bullying due to a lack of research.

52. Professor Smith told us:

"Given that we have been doing inspection work for 10-12 years one would expect there to be some impact, but we need a much better auditing base to find out what is happening both across different regions of the country and schools which try different approaches and over time, and for different types of bullying and harassment, including prejudice-based bullying."[75]

David Moore of Ofsted said that while the Government does carry out some short term research this is not adequate on its own:

"One of the dilemmas for the Department for Education and Skills is that they do undertake research but it is always short-term research. To get to the heart of these issues, someone has to be prepared to say that they're going to undertake a five-year study. Otherwise, you are just dipping in and getting a little snapshot. One could look at a longer term study that can feed back at different points but it is about someone being prepared to make that commitment to a long-term study."[76]

53. Professor Smith also told us

"I believe that the most useful piece of research would be detailed case studies of particular schools looking at the kinds and range of sanctions they use and in which circumstances they are used, trying to pin down in which circumstances certain kinds of approach work best, or do not work. That is an area where there is a lot of controversy, it is very important to know what a school's reactive approach should be when it happens, and we need to know more about that."[77]

RECORDING INCIDENTS OF BULLYING

54. The Committee heard from several witnesses that there is not a strong base for research because schools do not record bullying, even when there is a statutory duty to do so. There may be several reasons for this. One is that young people themselves are often reluctant to report bullying. In addition, anti-bullying programmes such as the No Blame method specifically state that records of incidents should not be kept. Schools may also be unwilling to record incidents because of the effect this will have on their reputation. A report from Barnsley Council's Children's Services Scrutiny Commission found that only 18% of Parent Governors and Governor Chairs felt that bullying was a problem in their schools compared with 64% of pupils. The report from Barnsley Scrutiny Commission also notes that

"One area of concern for the Commission was that some schools are reporting 'Nil Returns' for bullying. The Commission heard that it was difficult to tell whether schools were wanting to avoid getting a 'bad reputation' if they reported incidents of bullying."[78]

While there is a lack of comprehensive evidence about the extent of bullying, we feel it is unlikely that the majority of schools will have no incidents of bullying.

55. We believe that the lack of clear data on the extent of bullying hampers the development of effective anti-bullying policies. The Department and local authorities should work towards creating a culture where schools are open about any bullying taking place within them. We recommend that all local authorities, in partnership with schools, develop a robust system for the collation, evaluation and reporting of bullying for the purpose of effectively improving the tackling and management of this issue across all schools in their area. We recommend that Ofsted regularly inspect the effectiveness of this process.

56. We are concerned that decisions on anti-bullying policy are being made with very little evidence to guide them. We urge the Government to commission a long-term study of a number of schools, looking at both general trends in bullying and also the effectiveness of different approaches in different circumstances.

Balance between national and local anti-bullying policy

57. Throughout the inquiry one of the issues we have addressed is how extensive national policy should be and how much flexibility should be given to local authorities, schools and teachers. We are aware that there are arguments on both sides. Professor Smith says that

"At present every school develops its own policy and framework for tackling bullying. The good feature of this is that they feel ownership of their policy, and it can be responsive to local conditions and issues. The bad side is that many policies can be poorly worded and inadequate (for example, omitting certain types of bullying such as homophobic bullying or cyber-bullying; being unclear about liaison with parents; being unclear about how incidents will be recorded; etc)[79]

58. Given the complexity involved in defining bullying there are clear problems with a rigid national framework. On the issue of defining bullying, the Children's Commissioner noted that

"However encompassing and generally satisfying the definition finally adopted, some of its key elements have margins of ambiguity that complicate implementation at practitioner level."[80]

Many of the witnesses said that a whole school ethos is one of the ways to prevent bullying and ensure that bullying behaviour is seen as unacceptable. We feel that a good anti-bullying policy developed by a school in conjunction with pupils, staff and parents is an important part of developing this ethos. School councils have the potential to make a contribution to this process.

59. However, we are concerned that there are schools where staff and senior management are unwilling or unable to deal with bullying. When talking about homophobic bullying Denys Robinson of EACH said that

"If a school is denying that they have a problem […]the last thing they will do is spend part of their precious budget on getting in-service training about how to deal with gay and lesbian pupils"[81]

We believe that there is a similar risk in terms of anti-bullying policy. Where schools are not dealing effectively with bullying, either because they lack the ability or the inclination, they are unlikely to formulate an effective anti-bullying policy. We note that in 2003 only 67% had an anti-bullying policy that was separate from a more general behaviour policy.[82] Pupils at some schools are therefore disadvantaged by the freedom schools have in this area.

60. We accept that there are significant advantages to schools being allowed to develop their own anti-bullying policy. However, the Department and local authorities should provide clear guidance on how to develop effective policies. This guidance should include information on the minimum standard expected for schools' policies and what should be included. The minimum standard should apply to all state funded schools, including those with a faith-based ethos.

73   Ev 60 Back

74   Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council School Related Bullying in Barnsley, 2006 p 20. Back

75   Q 204 Back

76   Q 9 Back

77   Q 215 Back

78   Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council School Related Bullying in Barnsley, 2006, p 24. Back

79   Ev 57 Back

80   Ev 193 Back

81   Q 37 Back

82   Smith, P and Samara, M Evaluation of the DfES Anti-Bullying Pack: RBX06-03, April 2003. Back