B1657 - Financial Literacy Education (State-funded Secondary Schools) Bill - Amendment Reading

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require the provision of Financial Literacy Education education by all state funded secondary schools;

BE IT ENACTED by the Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows –

Section 1 Financial Literacy education in maintained schools

1. The Education Act 2002
   is amended as follows:
2. At the end of Subparagraph 84(3(h(ii)))(https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2002/32/section/84
   ), insert:

“, and (iii) Financial Literacy.”.

3) At the end of Paragraph 85(4(c))

, insert:

“, and (d) Financial Literacy.”.

4) Before Section 86

, insert a new section:

“85B Financial literacy education

1. For the purposes of this Part, Financial literacy education shall comprise formal lessons to equip pupils with age-appropriate skills and knowledge required to understand financial concepts
2. The skills and knowledge under subsection (1) include but are not limited to—

(a) making informed decisions about personal consumer and financial choices;
(b) understanding how their consumer and financial decisions affect—
(i) other individuals, (ii) the broader community, and (iii) the natural, economic, and business environment
(c) learning how to manage financial risks
(d) Identifying and avoiding any financial scams or similar dangerous environments
(e) Interacting and engaging with the regulatory authorities and governance authorities involved in financial affairs

3) The detail of the curriculum under subsections (1) and (2) shall be determined by the governing body and the head teacher.

4) The Secretary of State may provide further details relating to subsection (2) by regulation

5) The National Curriculum for England is not required to specify attainment targets or assessment arrangements for financial literacy education (and section 84(1) has effect accordingly).

6) It is the duty of the governing body and head teacher of any school in which financial literacy education is provided in pursuance of this section to ensure that information presented in the course of providing financial literacy education should be up up to date and accurate.

7) It shall be a duty on the Secretary of State to—

(a) ensure that financial literacy education is included in accredited initial and continuing teacher education; and
(b) to issue guidance on best practice in delivering and inspecting financial literacy education

8) In the exercise of their functions so far as they relate to financial literacy education, a local authority, governing body or head teacher shall have regard to guidance issued by the Secretary of State.

9) The Secretary of State shall review the guidance mentioned in subsection (7) at least annually, and in reviewing the guidance the Secretary of State must consult such persons as the Secretary of State considers appropriate.

10) The Secretary of State must amend and reissue the guidance if the Secretary of State considers it would otherwise not be fit for purpose.

11) Regulations under subsection (4)—

(a) shall be made by statutory instrument; and
(b) may not be made unless a draft has been laid before and approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament.”

Section 2 Financial literacy education education in other state-funded schools

1. The Education Act 1996
   is amended as follows
2. After [section 483A]https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/56/section/483A
   , insert a new section—

“483B Financial literacy education

1. For the third and fourth key stages, the curriculum for a school to which this section applies shall include Financial literacy education, comprising the matters set out in section 85B(1) and (2) of EA 2002.
2. It is the duty of the proprietor and head teacher of a school in which Financial literacy education is provided in pursuance of this section to secure that the principles set out in section 85B(7) to (9) of the Education Act 2002 are complied with.
3. In carrying out functions exercisable by virtue of this section, the proprietor and head teacher of a school to which the section applies shall have regard to any guidance issued from time to time by the Secretary of State.
4. The schools to which this section applies are city technology colleges, city colleges for the technology of the arts and academy schools.
5. In this section the “fourth key stage” has the meaning given by section 82(1)(c) and (d) of EA 2002.

Section 3 Consultation, review and revision

1. The Secretary of State shall, before making regulations under section 85B(4) of the Education Act 2002 for the first time, conduct a public consultation about the content and delivery of Financial literacy education.
2. The Secretary of State shall lay before each House of Parliament a report of the public consultation under subsection (1), alongside any statement he thinks appropriate, within 3 months of the closing date of the consultation.
3. The Secretary of State shall make arrangements for the conduct of independent reviews of the quality and impact of Financial literacy education provision to pupils to commence after the first cohort of pupils to receive Financial literacy education throughout key stages 3 and 4 has completed key stage 4.
4. The Secretary of State shall lay a copy of the report of the findings of any review under subsection (3) before each House of Parliament.

Section 4 Extent, commencement, and short title

1. This Act extends to England only.
2. This Act comes into force on the day after the day on which it receives Royal Assent.
3. This Act may be cited as the Financial Literacy Education (State-funded Secondary Schools) Act 2024.

This Bill was submitted by Secretary of State for Education and Skills /u/mikiboss on behalf of His Majesty’s 34th Government.

Opening Speech

Deputy Speaker

As the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, I am proud to stand as part of this initiative to increase the amount of attention given to financial literacy in state funded schools, something which is vitally important now, and only becoming more important with every passing year.

While most definitions of financial literacy you see are quite broad, that of being able to understand, relate to, and react to financial information, definitions don’t capture just how vital financial literacy is to someone's development, and the ways in which a good level of it can be beneficial for personal development, personal safety, and for societal benefits.

Education serves many functions in our modern society, and we must look beyond those which are purely financial benefits, however, financial literacy is a cornerstone part of someone’s personal development which needs to be adequately responded to, and as of yet has been overlooked.

While comprehensive reviews have been relatively limited in terms of specific findings, we know that far too many adults in the UK have difficulty reading simple financial documents, or understanding the types of authorities that can help them with said documents. The OECD put together a series of findings in 2014

which, among other things, found that low levels of financial literacy impact negatively on standards of living, physical and psychological wellbeing, and difficulty in attaining financial independence.

These proposals contained in this bill, that or a new focus of financial literacy in the curriculum, and focused lessons that cover financial concepts, will go a long way to trying to boost standards for financial literacy, as well as ensuring we have a keen awareness to any upcoming or emerging financial concerns. A recent example that comes to mind is that of financial scams, and the vast network of scams that can be found online that either fool people into recurring transactions, financial fraud, or tax fraud. These schemes do harm, not just to the individual, but society at large, and while older generations are typically vulnerable, younger people still make up a large chunk of the victims. Classes and lessons like these could easily boost the ability for people to detect and respond to these scams.

It is my hope that this initiative, along with others that the government has introduced, can effectively increase our educational output, our financial safety, and empower students as they grow into adults to build their own future.

Amendment 1 (A01):

Strike Sections 1-3 and replace with the following:

Section 1: Financial Literacy in Schools
(1) The Personal, Social, Religious, and Political Education Act 2023 is amended as follows;
(a) In section 5(3b), insert;
(vi) Interacting and engaging with the regulatory authorities and governance authorities involved in financial affairs
(vii) understanding how their consumer and financial decisions affect—
(1) other individuals, (2) the broader community, and (3) the natural, economic, and business environment
(viii) Identifying and avoiding any financial scams or similar dangerous environments

And renumber subsequent sections.

EN: I have already gone through and updated the curriculum around finances in England; this would simply place it all in one area of statute on similar terms to avoid any potential issues, both in parsing the state of financial education in the UK and to avoid the fact that this bill would require it taught at KS3 while my original bill would require everything else taught at KS4.

Amendment 2 (A02):

Amend Section 4(3) to read:

This Act may be cited as the Financial Literacy (Expansion) (Education) Act 2024

EN: Clarifies the name of the Act to be more precise

Amendment 3 (A03):

Strike section 2 and renumber subsequent sections.

EN: Section 1 will cover this anyway, as it has been added to the national curriculum.

Amendment 4 (A04):

In Section 2, strike 'and academy schools'.

EN: These no longer exist within English statute.

All amendments were submitted by His Grace The Duke of the Suffolk Coasts.

Lords can debate the amendments until the 26th of March at 10pm GMT.