Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the proposed routes of appeal are against the School Attendance Orders available for parents under the Schools Bill.

The Schools Bill has not proposed any changes to the route of appeal available to parents against School Attendance Orders.

Once parents have applied for revocation to the local authority, on the basis that their child will receive suitable education out of school and had that application refused, parents can appeal to the Secretary of State to overrule a local authority’s refusal to revoke a School Attendance Order.

There are other routes of complaint available for parents, which includes: the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman when a parent believes a local authority has not acted as per law and guidance; and the Education Act 1996 gives the Secretary of State powers to intervene when a local authority exercises their functions unreasonably or fails to comply with duties under that Act.