The petition of residents of the constituency of Henley,
Declares that the petitioners reject the imposition of an expensive, disproportionate, invasive and ill-judged registration and monitoring system for home educated children, which undermines the long-standing statutory recognition of the primacy of parents in determining the education of their children.
The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons remove parts 3 and 4 of the Schools Bill and urges the Government urgently to conduct proper independent research into the outcomes of home educated children and further, that the Government provide tangible support for home educating families including in the provision of access to examinations.
And the petitioners reman, etc. —[Presented by John Howell, Official Report, 13 July 2022; Vol. 718, c. 455.] [P002746]
Petitions in similar terms were also submitted by the right hon. Member for New Forest West (Sir Desmond Swayne) [P002747]; the hon. Member for Amber Valley (Nigel Mills) [P002748]; the hon. Member for Thirsk and Malton (Kevin Hollinrake) [P002749]; the right hon. Member for New Forest East (Dr Lewis) [P002751]; the hon. Member for Broxtowe (Darren Henry) [P002752]; the right hon. Member for Staffordshire Moorlands (Karen Bradley) [P002753]; the hon. Member for Coventry North East (Colleen Fletcher) [P002754]; the hon. Member for Nottingham North (Alex Norris) [P002755]; the hon. Member for Eltham (Clive Efford) [P002756]; the hon. Member for Bristol East (Kerry McCarthy) [P002761] and the right hon. Member for South West Wiltshire (Dr Murrison) [P002763].
Observations from the Minister for School Standards (Will Quince):
The Department recognises that many parents who educate their children at home provide a high-quality education and do so in the best interests of their child. The Government continue to support the right of families to home educate when this is the case.
The Association of Directors of Children’s Services estimated in their 2021 Elective Home Education survey that there were 115,542 children who were electively home educated at some point during the 2020-21 academic year—an increase of 34 per cent on the previous year.
The Children Not in School (CNIS) measures in the Schools Bill were proposed following the Government’s 2018 call for evidence on Elective Home Education (EHE) and the 2019 CNIS consultation, which suggested that not all children educated at home are being educated suitably. We received 3,441 and 4,785 responses to these respectively from home educating families, local authorities (LAs), and other interested parties.
Given the findings from the consultations and the reported increase in the number of children being home educated, there is greater need for LAs to be able to identify these children to assure themselves about the education being provided. As such, the aim of the CNIS system of registration proposed in the Schools Bill is to aid LAs to undertake their existing responsibilities to safeguard children and ensure they are receiving a suitable education; and also to help them to discharge their new duty to support home educating families (as outlined in section 436G of the Bill).
The proposed new registration system is not intended to undermine parents’ existing rights to home educate in the way that they choose, so long as the education being provided is suitable—which parents must already ensure is the case. The CNIS measures in the Schools Bill do not feature any proposals for additional powers for LAs to explicitly monitor education or to enforce entry into the home.
Providing information for the registers will not be disproportionately burdensome, or invasive, for parents. LAs may only require parents of children who are eligible to be registered to provide them with certain information (and only where known)—the child’s name, date of birth and home address, the name and address of each parent, and such details about the means through which they are being educated as are prescribed in regulations. For example, whether the child is being educated at home or in other out-of-school education settings, and the proportion of their education received there.
Information from the registers will primarily be used to help LAs to promote the education of children in their areas and, where required, to safeguard those children who require protection but who are not currently visible to those services that are there to keep them safe. Data on reasons why families home educate, flexi-school, or had children placed in alternative provision (which are voluntary on parents to provide) could also be used to identify any trends or common issues within a particular area, or within the wider education system. This could, for example, help improve understanding of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or issues like off-rolling and school bullying.
In addition, data from the registers will be used to inform national policy development, for example, in relation to the types and level of support needed by home educating families, the resources of LAs to deliver that support, and whether particular groups need more support than others and why.
The new duty on LAs to provide support for EHE families is not optional. Whenever asked to do so, the LA will be required to provide some support for children who are electively home educated and are on their register. The nature of the support should reflect both what the parents want in terms of support and the LA’s assessment of the needs of the child and the wider needs of families in their area. This could, for instance, include offering advice to home educators, support to access examinations, or support for home education groups, depending on what the LA considers appropriate to the needs of individual families. Although, it is important to note that by electing to home educate, parents do also accept full responsibility for their child’s education, including any associated costs.
As part of the Schools Bill’s implementation, we will develop new statutory guidance for LAs on how they should be discharging their support duty in collaboration with a new implementation forum of LAs, home educators and safeguarding partners, prior to public consultation—to ensure the system works for everyone. A further new burdens assessment will also be undertaken to inform the level of funding required for the support duty, once additional data has been collected and further engagement has taken place with stakeholders on the assessment of needs and costs.
Finally, Parts 3 and 4 of the Schools Bill contain other proposals which are distinct from the CNIS measures. These relate to school attendance and the regulation of independent educational institutions.
Where families choose to educate their children by sending them to a school, the intention of the attendance clauses is to provide greater consistency in the support offered to pupils and families to attend school regularly, regardless of where in the country they live.
The attendance clauses will put recently published school attendance guidance “working together to improve school attendance” on statutory footing. This guidance will ensure that pupils are provided with earlier and more targeted support to attend their educational settings through collaborative working between families, schools, LAs, and other relevant local services. The attendance clauses also intend to make the existing system for fixed penalty notices more consistent and bring requests for leave of absence in academies in line with other state-funded schools. Together, these clauses are an important part of the Government’s overall move to providing more consistent support to pupils and families to help children attend school before legal intervention is considered.
Part 4 is intended to make sure that children attending independent full-time settings receive a safe and broad education. It expands on the category of institutions that are required to be registered with, and which are regulated by the Secretary of State (known as “independent educational institutions”), but part-time settings will not be covered by part 4, nor are any additional burdens placed on parents solely educating their own children at home. Other measures in Part 4 improve Ofsted’s ability to investigate those committing offences under the Education and Skills Act 2008 (those offences only apply in relation to the category of full-time settings that will be required to register). Part 4 also improves the regulation of registered independent educational institutions through changes to the material change regime and enforcement powers. These changes will help us to ensure that children at registered settings are safe and do not affect parents who are solely educating their own children at home.