Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she has taken to support (a) parents and (b) children with home-schooling in (i) England and (ii) Romford constituency.

Every child deserves to receive an education that helps them to achieve and thrive. Every parent has the responsibility to provide this for their child and may choose to do so by educating them at home. Whilst that responsibility rests with the parent, it is important that they can work with education professionals and local authorities to ensure that the best education is provided.

The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, currently passing through Parliament, will require all local authorities in England and Wales to maintain registers of children who are not in school, including those who are home educating. Attached to this will be a duty on local authorities to provide support to home educating families who request assistance.

The department’s data collection on elective home education provides information on each local authority area, including what support is currently offered. All support is offered at the discretion of the local authority in each individual case. This data is accessible at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/elective-home-education/2024-25-autumn-term.