Oral Answers to Questions

Flick Drummond Excerpts

Wednesday 7th June 2023 Commons Chamber

[Mrs Flick Drummond (Meon Valley) (Con)]

Q9. We are all concerned about the 81,000 children who are not on the school register, but are under the term “home-educated”. No one—neither local authorities, nor schools—can honestly answer the question of how many children are not in school. Therefore, how can we know that every child is safe and suitably educated? These children are out of sight and out of mind. The Secretary of State for Education has said that this is one of her priorities, as has the Education Committee. Can I ask my right hon. Friend to expedite my ten-minute rule Bill to place a duty on local authorities to maintain a register of children who are not in school, so that we can ensure that every child is visible, safe, suitably educated and receiving the support to enable them to thrive?

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

We want to ensure that all children are safe and have access to an excellent education. Of course, local authorities must seek to identify children missing in their area and ensure that they are safe. The Department for Education continues to undertake work to support swifter identification and greater support of children missing in education.