Source · Select Committees · Education Committee
Recommendation 4
4
Deferred
Introduce a register of children not in school fully operational for the 2024/25 academic year.
Recommendation
We urge the Government to deliver on its commitment to introduce a register of children not in school to be fully operational for the 2024/25 academic year. We therefore expect the Government to include a suitable legislative vehicle in the next King’s Speech, if it has not already availed itself of the opportunity to adopt a private members bill already before the house. (Paragraph 29) Expectations for attendance
Government Response Summary
The Government remains committed to legislating for a register of children not in school but will do so at a future suitable opportunity, not confirming a specific legislative vehicle or the 2024/25 deadline.
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government
Deferred
The Government recognises the linkages between persistent absence and a parental decision to elect to home educate. Some of the most common reasons given for persistent absence are similar to the reasons behind the decision to elect to home educate, such as child mental health difficulties and dissatisfaction with the school. The Government remains committed to introducing local authority registers for children not in school, as well as a duty for local authorities to provide support to home-educating families. The Government will legislate for these at a future suitable opportunity to help local authorities undertake their existing duties to ensure all children receive a suitable education and are safe, regardless of where they are educated. Children missing education will benefit as local authorities will be better placed to identify and help those children, whilst children already receiving suitable education will benefit from additional support from the local authority. In the meantime, the Department is continuing to work with local authorities to improve their non-statutory registers, and to support them to ensure all children in their areas are receiving a suitable education. On 26 October, the Department also launched a consultation on revised elective home education guidance for local authorities and parents, with the aim of increasing consistency of practice across all local authorities.