Asked by: Lord Soley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Barran on 29 October (HL3408), what assessment they have made of the number of children being home educated.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
The department does not collect data on children who are home educated. However, we are aware of rising numbers of home-educated children.
The department supports the right of parents to educate their children at home. Most do so with the best education of their child at the centre of their decision. There are concerns about the rising numbers of home educated children, and how this increase is driven by reasons other than a commitment to home education. For some parents, the child’s education is not the primary reason behind the decision to home educate, which can mean that some children are not being provided with a suitable education.
The government remains committed to a form of registration system for children not in school. Further details on this will be in the government response to the Children Not in School consultation, which will be published in the coming months.
Asked by: Lord Soley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Berridge on 28 April (HL14943), what steps they are taking to create a register of children being home-schooled in England.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
The department remains committed to a form of local authority register for children not in school. We will set out further details on this in the government response to the ‘Children Not In School’ consultation, which we intend to publish before the end of the year.
Asked by: Lord Soley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their policy regarding the registration of independent schools in instances where Ofsted has expressed concern regarding that registration.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
Any educational provider which offers a full-time education to 5 or more pupils of compulsory school age, or to 1 or more pupils of compulsory school age who are also looked after, or have an education, health and care plan, is required to register with the Department for Education. It is a criminal offence to conduct an independent school that is not registered. If convicted of this offence, a person could be subject to an unlimited fine, and/or imprisonment for up to 6 months.
Section 99 of the Education and Skills Act 2008 outlines that Ofsted must inspect all proposed new independent schools against the Independent Schools Standards, and make a report to my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, on the extent to which these standards are likely to be met following registration. The Secretary of State for Education must then decide, taking that report and any other evidence he has on the proposed school into account, whether the standards are likely to be met if it is to be registered as an independent school. If he is satisfied that the standards are likely to be met, he must register the school.
In practice, it is nearly always the case that where an inspection report shows that the standards are not likely to be met, the registration application is rejected. However, there are rare exceptions: for example, if remedial building work has been arranged, but has not yet been undertaken at the time of the inspection. In such cases, if the school is subsequently able to show that the work has been carried out successfully, so as to address all of the issues identified in the report, it is possible to register the school without the need for a further inspection.
Full guidance on registering an independent school is available through the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/independent-school-registration.
Asked by: Lord Soley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they collect any statistics on the number of children who have been attending unregistered schools who are alleged to have suffered abuse; and whether they will publish any such statistics.
Answered by Lord Nash
The Department does not hold any data on the number of children who are the subject of abuse inquiries, whose parents or guardians have been convicted of abuse, or who are alleged to have suffered abuse. We are taking steps to ensure that the education system is as robust as it can be when it comes to protecting young people. It is unacceptable for any child of compulsory school age not to receive a suitable education. Local authorities have a responsibility to ensure that this does not happen.
The Department has taken robust steps to tackle unregistered schools. We are working closely with Ofsted who have agreed to take forward prosecutions for settings operating illegally as unregistered independent schools. We have also published proposals to introduce a new system to regulate out-of-school education settings which teach children intensively, and to intervene and impose sanctions where there are safety or welfare concerns. The call for evidence on out-of-school education settings closed on 11 January 2016 and responses are being analysed.
Asked by: Lord Soley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they collect any statistics on the number of children being educated at home who are the subject of abuse inquiries, or where the parents or guardian have been convicted of abuse; and whether they will publish any such statistics.
Answered by Lord Nash
The Department does not hold any data on the number of children who are the subject of abuse inquiries, whose parents or guardians have been convicted of abuse, or who are alleged to have suffered abuse. We are taking steps to ensure that the education system is as robust as it can be when it comes to protecting young people. It is unacceptable for any child of compulsory school age not to receive a suitable education. Local authorities have a responsibility to ensure that this does not happen.
The Department has taken robust steps to tackle unregistered schools. We are working closely with Ofsted who have agreed to take forward prosecutions for settings operating illegally as unregistered independent schools. We have also published proposals to introduce a new system to regulate out-of-school education settings which teach children intensively, and to intervene and impose sanctions where there are safety or welfare concerns. The call for evidence on out-of-school education settings closed on 11 January 2016 and responses are being analysed.