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Freedom for Children to Grow |
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The Law Relating to
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Government Proposals to Change the Law on Home Education in England
IntroductionThe Government has been trying to change the law on home education in England by means of the Children Schools and Families Bill which is currently going through parliament. Under the proposed new scheme all home educators would be required get their home education approved and registered by the local authority. In all cases where home education was not registered, the child would be compelled to go to school. In the Bill, the Government has provided a sample list of reasons why registration might be refused, which includes sweeping subjective criteria such as "failure to co-operate", "inadequate information" and whether the local authority considers it would be harmful to the child's welfare to be home educated. There is broad consensus that the home education area of the Bill is impossible so the only decision for MPs has been whether it could be altered to make it fair and reasonable or whether it should just be scrapped. Conservatives and Liberal Democrats at every stage have said that the home education area of the Bill should be left out. Now that the Bill has reached the House of Lords, Baroness Verma, the Conservative spokesperson for Children, Schools and Families has recently put down amendments proposing to leave out the home education parts of the Bill. Baroness Walmsley, the spokesperson for the Liberal Demoncrats, has also spoken out clearly against the home education proposals in the Bill. DetailsClause 26 of the Children Schools and Families Bill would enable the Government to introduce Schedule 1 which in turn would modify several important sections of the Education Act 1996. Schedule one can be found here towards the end of the Children Schools and Families Bill. Clause 27 introduces a framework power for the legislation to be extended to Wales at some point in the future.(Scroll down to "What does the Children Schools and Families Bill actually say") Should the Bill become law the Government has said that the changes would take effect from April 2011.
Badman ReportThe Government's legislative proposals follow from the Badman Report but the Government while loudly proclaiming whole hearted agreement with the Badman Report in fact quietly omitted the vast majority of the Badman recommendations from the proposed legislation. In addition, there is nothing about support in the Bill. "We are considering a section of the Bill which will cost £20 million per annum, which is about £1,000 per home-educated child. These children receive no money to help pay the costs of examinations; no money to buy textbooks; no money to buy materials; no money and no tuition to help them over difficulties in education. Now the Government can find £1,000 for each of these children-and will spend it on auditing them. Not one penny will go to help the children; it will all go on auditing them. What have these people done to deserve that?" Lord Lucas Education Otherwise PositionEducation Otherwise believes that Clause 26 Schedule 1 of the Children, Schools and Families Bill is profoundly flawed and must not pass into legislation. In addition to the devastating effect on home educating families, the proposed measures would be incompatible with existing laws and would have unforeseen consequences far beyond the present target group. Click here for more from the Education Otherwise Position Statement published on January 6th 2010. Education Otherwise has warned the Government in Committee not to look to home education support organisations for help in training and implementing these measures. "I really believe that you will not find home-education support organisations that will deliver training on how to implement the Bill, so in respect of all those plans for softening the edges and making it palatable and home-education friendly, I cannot see where you will find such people." Home educators' reaction: proposals are intrusive and extremely threateningThe proposals have caused fear and anger amongst home educating families. Many home educators have repeatedly told members of parliament and civil servants that their children find the proposed new licensing scheme intrusive and extremely threatening. For more background to this, please read our recent article Are Home Educators Worrying About Nothing?. Not sufficient time for the Government to get this through before the ElectionParliament will be dissolved no later than May 10th in time for a General Election on June 3rd. A growing number of political commentators favour May 6th as the most likely date for the General Election, combining it with the local election. The Prime Minister will give 17 days notice for the General Election plus a few days added on for "the wash-up" before parliament is dissolved. If the election is called earlier, the wash-up will probably be around April 7-9th. If the election is not called before June 6th, the wash-up will be at the end of the first week in May. Home educators have spoken to hundreds of constituency MPsThe home education clause is the most controversial in the Children Schools and Families Bill. We expected the Government to try and drive through legislation on home education as soon as the Badman Review was announced in January 2009. The past year has seen regular constituency meetings with MPs, a nationwide series of not-back-to-school picnics, a mass lobby of parliament, Briefing Events in the House of Commons and the House of Lords, and the formation of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Home Education. 331 constituencies returned petitions against the proposed legislation on home education, culminating in a mass presentation of petitions to Parliament on 8th December which can be read in Handsard . Hundreds of MPs have now met with home educators both in their constituencies and at Westminster. Read more about getting in touch with your MP here. New article to share with your MP Are Home Educators Worrying About Nothing?. Home educators are speaking to members of the House of LordsHouse of Lords Second Reading of the Children Schools and Families Bill took place on Monday March 8th with many peers speaking against the home education proposals in the Bill. Watch the recording of the debate here (6.41pm - 10.20pm) or read the transcript here in Hansard. Read our new page here for more information about writing to members of the House of Lords. What does the Children Schools and Families Bill actually say?The Government's proposals are set out in Schedule 1 of the Children Schools and Families Bill which would amend section 19 of the Education Act 1996 as follows:
Recent Articles from Education OtherwiseThere is a new problem with viewing individual articles if not using Internet Explorer. We are working to resolve this. In the meantime if you have difficulty viewing any of these links, please go directly to the Latest News page and scroll down to the relevant article. House of Commons Research Paper "Debate was brought to an end, in accordance with the programme order, as the Committee were considering the home education provisions and none of the provisions following clause 26 and schedule 1 was debated."EO Press Release on the Birmingham Case: "Ofsted has already found that Birmingham is failing to protect children and questions have been raised over the high number of child deaths in the last few years." EO email to DCSF raising concerns about special needs guidance letter DCSF announces new research into home education - Objective: "to close the gap in educational achievement for children from disadvantaged backgrounds" MPs can write to Public Bill Office about amendments during recess Amendments to leave out home education parts of the Children Schools and Families Bill. Debate and vote in Commons on February 23rd. Information about writing to members of the House of Lords. The Bill moves to First Reading in the Lords on February 24th. Summary of debate from Bill Committee Thursday February 4th Debate on Clause 26, the home education clause of the Children Schools and Families Bill, took a substantial part of the final Committee session with the Labour Chair unable or unwilling to advance the committee towards scrutiny of the remaining clauses of the Bill. Both Conservatives and Liberal Democrats were in agreement over the unfairness and unworkability of the Government's proposed changes to the law on home education. Outcome of proceedings from Thursday in Committee David Laws MP: "It is our strong view not only that the provisions to which amendments have been tabled should be deleted, but that the whole of clause 26 and schedule 1 - everything related to home education - should be dumped before this Parliament comes to its end." Graham Stuart MP: "I also thank my colleagues for making it so clear that, all the way to the wash-up, the Conservatives will ensure that this Bill will never become law." "Are home educators worrying about nothing?"
Are home educators making too many wild speculations? How exactly did home educators arrive at their worst-case scenario interpretation of the Government's proposals? Where is the evidence? EO Press Release asks does guidance contradict Minister on funding?
Education Otherwise has located the latest Government guidance on Alternative Provision which is dated January 28th 2010. There is a helpful table on page 17 of the guidance which sets out the criteria for inclusion in the census return. "Pupil whose parents have elected to educate at home. Include? No. Category: Not applicable." DCSF Position Statement has no legal status and is for information onlyUpdate from Education Otherwise 11-25 January Education Otherwise Research into Home Education and Social Care Local authority views on registration and monitoring consultation
We are aware of a number of local authorities who attempted to inform the Department in September that it was not possible to give accurate information about home educated young people beyond the age of 16. It is not clear whether Graham Badman studied the raw data or whether he simply signed off the finished letters to the Select Committee. Anniversary of Badman Review: Fuelling the Anguish
"We have decided that local authorities should visit the place where education is taking place, which will usually be the family home, as part of their monitoring work. If families choose not to cooperate, and as a result are not on the register, local authorities will be able to use a school attendance order to require the home educated child or children to attend school."MPs speak out against Government proposals for home education Open letter in Guardian calling for home education clause to be withdrawn Minority groups affected by Government proposals Education Otherwise Position Statement How to get in touch with your MP Select Committee highly critical of Government plans: EO Press Release
The Select Committee does not endorse the Government's proposals for compulsory registration of home educated children; does not agree that visits to the home are necessary; does not believe it would be appropriate for home education officers to interview children without a parent present; is greatly concerned that home educated children with special needs are not well served by the present system; and strongly recommends that safeguarding concerns should not be addressed by the home education officer but should be passed to the appropriate agencies. In addition the Committee is not convinced by Government's estimate of the cost of the proposals, particularly with respect to increased contact time with home educators. Nor do members of the Committee believe that the Government has adequately estimated the cost of delivering a comprehensive training programme to local authorities. Home education Impact Assessment critiqueEducation Otherwise Briefing Paper Lord Lucas speaks against home education clause
"This part of the Bill is ill thought-out and unjustified, and I hope very much that we will delete it. In its current form it is a skeleton exposing home educators and their children to the unknown because so much will depend on how the regulations are written."Impact Assessment published Home educators in a headlock, Press Release from Education Otherwise New law announced before consultation response Questions in Parliament about funding for home education Submissions to the Select Committee available online
Professor James Conroy from Graham Badman's Expert Reference Group stated: "In my 30 odd years of professional life in education I have rarely encountered a process, the entirety of which was so slap dash, panic driven, and nakedly and naively populist."Government Czar uses Birmingham case against home education
The case cited by Maggie Atkinson is not an argument for more statutory powers with respect to home education, rather it is an argument for Birmingham Council to learn serious lessons and to address the urgent issues of recruitment, retention and training of social workers. Money to implement the Badman Report?Education Otherwise Parliamentary Event Sunday Times Article by Alex Dowty
"I don’t have a single GCSE or A-level, but I’m in my third year at Oxford University, studying law. I was home educated from the age of 8 until 18. One of the universities I applied to responded by e-mail, saying: "Did you forget to fill the form in?"Graham Badman makes urgent appeal for extra evidence to bolster his case before the Select Committee: EO Press Release
In a surprising admission, the covering letter from DCSF admits that the evidence on which the 28 recommendations were based was a "small sample" and that they needed to show "more statistically rigorous" information to the Inquiry. EO meeting with DCSFEO Youtube video on personalised learning EO Youtube video : what about qualifications EO Youtube video: response to Badman Review EO Youtube video: interview with Lord Lucas EO Youtube video: interview with Alan Thomas First EO Youtube video: School is Not Compulsory 1000 hits in first two days
Archived page on the Children Schools and Families Bill January 2010
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