1 Introduction
Background
1. In March 2014 an anonymous document came to light,
claiming that schools in Birmingham had been deliberately targeted
by Muslims standing as school governors in order to replace school
leaders with heads who would adopt a more Islamic agenda in running
the schools. The 'Trojan Horse' letter purported to offer advice
to communities in other cities as to how this could be done.[1]
2. The document had been sent to the leader of Birmingham
City Council in November 2013, with a covering letter (also anonymous)
stating that "This letter was found when I was clearing my
bosses files and I think you should be aware that I am shocked
at what your officers are doing." The letter writer adds
"You have 7 days to investigate this matter after which it
will be sent to a national newspaper who I am sure will treat
it seriously".[2]
3. At least five official investigations were held
into the allegations made in the letter, instigated by Ofsted,
the Department for Education (DfE), the Education Funding Agency
(EFA), Birmingham City Council and the West Midlands police. The
fallout from these reports is not yet complete: Ofsted is still
working with the schools that were put into special measures as
a result of its inspections in spring 2014, whilst the latest
update from the Secretary of State for Education on the Government's
actions to address issues raised was given to the House of Commons
on 29 January 2015. Birmingham City Council has agreed an improvement
plan which it must now put into action.
4. This is therefore a situation which has received
significant amounts of official attention and resources. It has
also commanded much media attention and attracted much controversy,
not least amongst communities in Birmingham and those affected
by the wider implementation of measures introduced in response
to the investigations. On this basis, we decided to inquire into
extremism in schools and the Trojan Horse affair.
Conduct of inquiry
5. In May 2014 we requested information from Birmingham
City Council, Ofsted and the DfE on the terms of reference of
their investigations, their scope, mode of operation and timetable,
and co-ordination with other investigations. Following this, we
took oral evidence in July 2014 from Ofsted, in September 2014
from Ian Kershaw, Birmingham City Council's Independent Adviser,
from Peter Clarke, Education Commissioner for Birmingham and from
Birmingham City Council and in October 2014 from the new Secretary
of State for Education, Nicky Morgan MP, who had replaced Michael
Gove MP at the Cabinet reshuffle in July. Many of the issues which
arise from the Trojan Horse investigation illustrate wider concerns
and we have also drawn upon evidence collected in the course of
our other inquiries, particularly that into academies and free
schools.
6. Our work has also examined, and benefitted from,
the reports produced by Ian Kershaw for Birmingham City Council
and Peter Clarke for the Secretary of State.[3]
Scope of inquiry and report
7. All the official investigations into the Trojan
Horse allegations agree that the number of schools affected is
small and that there is no evidence of widespread extremism in
schools in Birmingham or elsewhere in the country. In the summary
to his report, Ian Kershaw stressed the need to keep his findings
in perspective, stating that "My report deals with a small
number of schools where there are concerns and system weaknesses
that exist […] The issues covered in my report do not significantly
affect the majority of schools in Birmingham and this bigger picture
must not be forgotten. […]".[4]
Similarly, Nicky Morgan during her statement on 22 July described
Peter Clarke's report as showing that "this was a determined
effort by a small number of people […] to gain control of
a small number of schools".[5]
Although Ofsted has investigated allegations of similar practices
or of extremism in other forms elsewhere, especially in Tower
Hamlets, there is no evidence of a widespread plot to take over
schools. In January 2015 the DfE stated that it had "found
no area to have the same extent of vulnerabilities in its state
schools as Birmingham".[6]
8. All our witnesses also accepted that they had
found no evidence of extremism in schools. Sir Michael Wilshaw
told us: "We did not see extremism in schools. What we did
see was the promotion of a culture that would, if that culture
continued, have made the children in those schools vulnerable
to extremism because of […] the disconnection from wider
society and cultural isolation".[7]
Reflecting this, Nicky Morgan told the House on 22 July: "There
has been no evidence of direct radicalisation or violent extremism
but there is a clear account in the [Clarke] report of people
in positions of influence in these schools, who have a restricted
and narrow interpretation of their faith, not promoting British
values and failing to challenge the extremist views of others".[8]
We heard only one instance to the contrary: Ian Kershaw told us
that he had evidence that a film promoting violent jihadist extremism
had been shown to children in one classroom and the teacher had
not been disciplined.[9]
9. The one example given by Ian Kershaw is clearly
unacceptable and action should have been taken by the school to
prevent it, but a single instance does not warrant headline claims
that students in Birmingham—or elsewhere in England—are
being exposed to extremism by their teachers. The Birmingham City
Council Trojan Horse Review Group was firm that it did not "support
the lazy conflation-frequently characterised in the national media
in recent months-of what Ofsted have termed issues around 'a narrow
faith based ideology' and questions of radicalisation, extremism
or terrorism".[10]
We agree.
10. We also note that we have seen no evidence to
support claims of an organised plot to take over English schools.
We discussed this in some detail with witnesses.
11. In keeping with these findings, our report covers
the response of the DfE, Ofsted and Birmingham City Council to
the situation and wider lessons for the school system. We concentrate
on the processes followed by those responsible for oversight and
the recommendations made in the various reports, rather than the
detailed accounts of how the Trojan Horse situation came about
or what the investigations found.
1 See annex 2 of Report into allegations concerning
Birmingham schools arising from the 'Trojan Horse' letter, HC
576, July 2014 [Clarke report] for text of letter Back
2
Ibid, p 108 Back
3
Investigation report: Trojan Horse letter, July 2014 [Kershaw
report]; Report into allegations concerning Birmingham schools
arising from the 'Trojan Horse' letter, HC 576, July 2014 [Clarke
report] Back
4
Kershaw, para 4 Back
5
HC Deb, 22 July 2014, col 1252 Back
6
Implementation of recommendations from "Report into allegations
concerning Birmingham schools arising from the 'Trojan Horse'
letter", DfE, 29 January 2015 Back
7
Q2 Back
8
HC Deb, 22 July 2014, col 1247 Back
9
Qq175-7 Back
10
Trojan Horse Review Group, Report to Leader of Birmingham City
Council, 18 July 2014, p.13 Back
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