Source · Select Committees · Education Committee
Recommendation 43
43
Deferred
Deliver register of pupils not in school and implement duty for home-educated pupils' CEIAG support.
Conclusion
The Department must deliver on its commitment to introduce a register of pupils not in school by the end of the year, and should use this to gather more data on the characteristics of these pupils and how best to target support. The proposed duty on local authorities to provide support to home educating families, as set out in the draft Schools Bill, should be implemented alongside this and used to ensure that local authorities and/or Local Enterprise Partnerships can support CEIAG provision for home educated pupils. (Paragraph 150) 54 Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance
Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the need for statutory registers and a duty for local authorities but states these measures will be taken forward at the next suitable legislative opportunity when parliamentary time allows. They also note ongoing voluntary data collection and work with local authorities on non-statutory registers.
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government
Deferred
163. The Department agrees with the Committee for the need for statutory local authority registers for children not in school. We remain committed to introducing these registers for children not in school, as well as a duty for local authorities to provide support to home-educating families. The registers will help local authorities undertake their existing duties to ensure all children receive a suitable education and are safe, regardless of where they are educated. We will take forward these measures at the next suitable legislative opportunity, when parliamentary time allows. 164. In the meantime, we continue to work with local authorities to improve their non- statutory registers, and to support them to ensure all children are receiving a suitable education. Some Careers Hubs are active in this area and supporting local authorities help meet the needs of home educated children. Furthermore, young people outside of mainstream education can access online careers learning modules that offer self-directed learning and high-quality signposting to pathway information. In addition, young people aged 13+ can access one to one careers guidance via the National Careers Service telephone service. 165. To assist our understanding of these cohorts of children, from October 2022 the Department began collecting termly data on children missing education (CME) and elective home education (EHE) from local authorities on a voluntary basis. The CME and EHE data from autumn 2022 and spring 2023 was published on 18 May 2023. The Department will also review and consult on our elective home education guidance for local authorities and parents later this year. 166. To support swifter identification and greater support of CME, the Department has run a call for evidence on children missing education. This closed on 20 July and is currently being analysed and will be published in due course.