Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the cost of home schooling a child for (a) parents and (b) local education authorities in this financial year.

The department does not hold data on the cost of elective home education for parents or local authorities.

As set out in our elective home education guidance, parents who home educate assume the full financial responsibility for their child’s education, since a state-funded school place is available for their child.

The new duties created by the Children Not in School measures in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill will include the creation of a duty on local authorities to create and maintain Children Not in School registers and a duty to provide support to home educating families, should it be requested. Local authority delivery will be funded by central government in line with the New Burdens Doctrine. To determine the level of funding, the department will carry out a new burdens assessment.