Staffordshire Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education
Staffordshire Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education 24th Annual Report September 2013 - September 2014 1 From the Chair of SACRE SACREs (Standing Advisory Councils on Religious Education) are unusually distinctive in their composition, duties and procedures. They also vary considerably from one Local Authority to another, depending on such factors as which faith communities are represented, how well the SACRE is resourced, and how the SACRE itself has evolved over the last two decades. In the case of Staffordshire SACRE, for instance, there is a marked difference between the formal, tightly controlled character of SACRE meetings in the early 1990’s, and the participative, interactive nature of meetings in more recent years. I am sure this latter style enables each of the stakeholder groups in the SACRE better to “own” and identify with our SACRE’s work. In terms of Local Authority support, we are fortunate in Staffordshire SACRE to enjoy both the ongoing active involvement of County Council representatives and also the stability and encouragement provided by a ring-fenced level of resourcing carried over into the agreement with Entrust, together with the continuing and very welcome administrative services provided by the County Council. In these times of austerity, many SACREs are not so well placed. The exact composition of a SACRE is determined by its parent Local Authority, which will have due regard to the faith groups present in the area as well as to the broader picture of faiths and beliefs nationally and globally. The faith group composition of Staffordshire SACRE has remained largely static, even if the actual faith representatives change, but it is worth highlighting the addition to Group A of the Humanist representative, after some years technically as an observer.
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