The Lancashire Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education (SACRE) met to discuss membership updates, the status of Lancashire Humanists, and the SACRE Development Plan. The council voted against a proposal to grant Lancashire Humanists full membership in Representative Group 1. Members also reviewed and updated the SACRE Development Plan 2023-2025.

Lancashire Humanists Membership Status

The council considered a request from Keith Pennington, the Humanist observer, to recommend that Lancashire County Council amend the SACRE's terms of reference to allow Humanists full membership as part of Representative Group 1, instead of their current observer status.

Following a presentation from Keith Pennington, SACRE members discussed the request, raising questions about the reasons for it. Points that arose included:

• The unreliability of census data, which was recognised by the Office for National Statistics.
• Keith Pennington's regular attendance and contributions.
• The inability of an observer to serve on the Agreed Syllabus Conference¹.
• The existing legislative framework and the view that it was no longer 'fit for purpose'.
• The wider impact on admitting other non-religious world views.
• That, in the 2023 court case (Bowen v Kent County Council), the judgement referred to treating Humanism as a religious belief.

After Keith Pennington withdrew from the meeting, each representative group discussed how to cast their vote. The results were:

• Group 1 (Christian and other religious denominations which appropriately reflect the principal religious traditions in the area) – ABSTAIN
• Group 2 (Representing the Church of England) – AGAINST
• Group 3 (The Recognised Trade Unions representing Teachers) – AGAINST
• Group 4 (Lancashire County Council) – AGAINST

The council voted against the request to recommend that Lancashire County Council admit Humanism to Representative Group 1, but welcomed and recognised Keith Pennington's commitment and contribution to the work of the Lancashire SACRE.

Keith Pennington had argued that the SACRE lacked formal membership reflecting the 31.5% of adults in Lancashire who, according to the most recent census, have 'no religion'. He stated that this lack of representation did not assist the good functioning of the Agreed Syllabus Conference (ASC) nor the effective development of a RE syllabus that fairly reflects the religious and non-religious beliefs of the community.

He also referred to the Bowen v Kent 2023 case, which determined that Humanists should not be refused membership onto SACRE Group A due to Humanism being a non-religious belief. He quoted Professor Satvinder Juss, Professor of Law at King's College London, who stated that local authorities may appoint humanists to group A of a SACRE, but that given the number of Humanists in the UK, in reality, local authorities invariably should do this.

'Analysed properly, when looking at membership of a group the purpose of which is to advise upon the content of a religious education syllabus, it is obvious that all people who are holders of belief systems appropriate to be included within that syllabus are in an analogous position. It is clearly discriminatory to exclude someone from SACRE Group A solely by reference to the fact that their belief, whilst appropriate to be included within the agreed syllabus for religious education, is a non-religious, rather than a religious, belief.'

Lancashire SACRE Development Plan 2023-2025

Alison Lloyd, School Adviser, Education Improvement Service, presented the SACRE Development Plan 2023-25. Targets 2 and 3 had been evaluated and the plan updated accordingly. The SACRE then evaluated Target 1: to ensure the SACRE is effectively managed, carries out its statutory duties effectively and works in collaboration with the LA and other stakeholders .

The SACRE discussed the five objectives within Target 1 and agreed on the following status for each:

• Objective 1.1 – Partially met
• Objective 1.2 – Partially met
• Objective 1.3 – Partially met
• Objective 1.4 – Fully met
• Objective 1.5 – Fully met

The Chair and Clerk will update the SACRE Development Plan accordingly, and the information will be passed to Alison Lloyd for inclusion in the plan.

The SACRE Development Plan 2023-2025 identifies a set of key priorities for the SACRE to address and gives the SACRE's work clear direction and enables members to regularly measure their progress.

Feedback from NASACRE Annual Conference on 19 May 2025

John Wilson and Aruna Patel updated the SACRE on some of the discussions and key points from the NASACRE² Annual Conference which had taken place on 19 May in London.

The three main aspects to the conference were:

• To oversee the change of status of NASACRE to that of an incorporated Charity by electing a new committee and officers.
• To consider the Westhill awards for successful SACRE projects.
• To consider the work of SACREs.

Guest speakers included Lord Khan of Burnley, Minister for Faith, Communities and Resettlement in the House of Lords, whose recorded message was one of support for Religious Education and SACREs; and Dr Joyce Miller, who spoke about how the Religions and Worldviews approach enables those who have no faith to clarify what they believe and how they make moral and social judgements. There were also two workshops on what Culham St Gabriel's, a charitable foundation supporting Religious Education and Worldviews, can offer SACREs; and 'Solutions not Sides' which provides courses and safe spaces to counteract antisemitism and Islamophobia which was delivered by Preston based Mohammed Ali Amla.

The council agreed to note the update, consider a possible Lancashire project for submission to a future round of the Westhill Awards by the Quality and Standards Sub-group, and consider inviting Lord Khan of Blackburn and Mohammed Ali Amla to address future meetings of the SACRE.

Building Bridges Burnley Update

Afrasiab Anwar, Building Bridges Burnley, reported that the schools programme was being reviewed and training needs identified for those going into schools. Teacher training was also being considered and some of the delivery was likely to come back 'in-house' to the county council. The council noted the update.

Other Business

• Harsha Shukla referred to a faith day event which had recently taken place, including a walk, in which she had represented Hinduism.
• Keith Pennington updated on plans for Interfaith Week and that the Preston Interfaith Group, now known as Building Bridges Preston, was putting together some input for the week which would take place in the third week of November.
• Afrasiab Anwar drew the SACRE's attention to a recent report by the Faith and Belief Forum on the future of Interfaith Week
• The correspondence which had been circulated since the last meeting was noted.