Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children requiring SEND support did not attend school in each council ward in Northumberland in each of the last five academic years.

The requested information is not held centrally.

The department collects information on children who are electively home educated (EHE) from local authorities on a voluntary basis. The latest figures can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/elective-home-education.

The department also collects data on children missing education (CME) from local authorities on a voluntary basis. These are children of compulsory school age not registered at school or otherwise receiving suitable education. The latest figures can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-missing-education.

Information on the number of children in EHE in Northumberland between 2021/22 and 2022/23 is available in the following table: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/d158d673-76e2-4aab-a0f2-08dcfae39e23. Information on the number of CME in Northumberland between 2021/22 and 2022/23 is available in the following table: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/d86675e8-9537-4727-a0ed-08dcfae39e23. As data was collected from local authorities for the first time in autumn 2022, information is not held for prior time periods. Additionally, EHE and CME data is not available at council ward level.

In autumn 2023/24, 15% of all EHE children had an additional requirement of special educational needs (SEN) support and 8% of all CME had an additional requirement of SEN support. This compares with 13% for the overall school population in January 2023.

The Children’s Wellbeing Bill will legislate for local authority registers of children not in school. This will include a duty on parents to provide the necessary information for these registers if their child is eligible. These proposals are intended to help local authorities identify all children not in school in their areas, including those that may require SEN support, so they can ensure children are receiving a safe and suitable education.