Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what advice, if any, they give to local authorities about funding and placing students in unregistered schools; and whether it is illegal for local authorities to fund such schools.

Local authorities have a duty to provide suitable educational provision for children of compulsory school age who may otherwise not be able to receive such education. As commissioners, local authorities will determine the most appropriate provision for a child and this includes funding the provision.

The department provides statutory guidance to local authorities, which makes it clear that the provision should meet the needs of the child, must be registered where appropriate, and should be delivered by high quality staff with suitable safeguarding checks in place. This alternative provision guidance is attached.

Where a setting meets the threshold for registration as an independent school, but is not registered, then it is operating illegally. The most recent figures show that Ofsted has made sure 63 of these schools have stopped operating illegally between January 2016 and December 2018. Ofsted has powers to inspect without notice if it has reasonable cause to believe that an unregistered independent school is being conducted.

Local authorities should not commission places at schools that are required to be registered, but are not registered.