Directors of Children’s Services All
local authorities in England
17 September 2009
Select Committee hearing on the Review of Elective Home Education in
England
I am writing to make you aware of the forthcoming Select Committee hearing in
early October which is likely to examine the evidence from the various sources
which led me to make the 28 recommendations in my Review. The Review
recognised that most home educators do a good job and that they should be
supported by local authorities (LAs) in accessing appropriate services for their
children. You may be aware from press reports and activity within your local
authority that some sections of the home educating community are questioning
some of the LA evidence which assisted me in arriving at my conclusions.
I had a good response from LAs to my call for evidence to inform the Review.
This provided a rich source of contextual information which I considered
alongside submissions from individuals and a wide range of organisations with
relevant expertise. Most of my recommendations have not been challenged,
reflecting the sound evidence base. However, a small group of home educators
have refused to accept my conclusion that ‘the number of children known to
children’s social care in some local authorities is disproportionately high relative
to the size of the home educating population’ with others disputing the evidence
base that shows that a small but significant proportion of home educated children
are receiving no, or an inadequate, education.
I would like to strengthen my statistical evidence in advance of the Select
Committee hearing so that it is more extensive and statistically robust. This
would allow the Select Committee to consider good quality factual information
that supplements the qualitative analyses underpinning my report. For this
reason I need a response to this letter by
1 October.
DCSF’s ‘Star Chamber’ gave approval for this voluntary data collection on 15
September.
For those LAs which did not submit information earlier
In the course of the Review we collected statistical evidence from a sample of
local authorities on vulnerable children who were home educated. This provided
persuasive evidence for change. However, it was a small sample and we would
like to supplement this data in order to provide more statistically rigorous
information to the Select Committee about safeguarding and educational issues
that affect home educated children. The supplementary information we are
seeking is described below and we would be grateful if you could indicate for
each dataset whether the figures are accurate or estimates.
Home educated children where there are child protection concerns
Each year local authorities return statistics on the number of referrals,
assessments and children who are subject to a child protection plan (the ‘CPR3’
return). We would be grateful if you could identify the number of home educated
children of compulsory school age who are the subject of child protection plans
using the attached spreadsheet (information reproduced below for ease of
reference). We will compare this information on home educated children with the
wider child population using the 2008-09 CPR3 return published on 17
September 2009.
CPR3 Category
Number of EHE children
Electively home educated children
who were the subject of a child
Nil
protection plan at 31 March 2009
Number of electively home educated
56 as of 24/09/2009
children in local authority
Inadequate education
Please can you provide information about the number of electively home
educated children of compulsory school age not receiving a suitable education:
Number not receiving any education
2 in process of being found a school
place
Number receiving some education but There is currently no legal definition of
not a full time education
full time education for children
educated at home
Number receiving a full time but not
Not applicable
‘suitable’ education
Number not cooperating with
6 children for whom we have a
monitoring so no assessment can be
statement in lieu but have never seen.
made
Education appears adequate from the
statement
Known to home educate but no
24/09/09 we had 6 new referrals visits
assessment yet
have been arranged during the next
month.
Total number of electively home
We do not understand this question.
educated children not known to be
receiving a ‘suitable education’
School attendance orders
Number issued in past 12 months to electively home educated children
(please do not include any child more than once).
None
NEETs
The Connexions Service carries out an annual survey of year 11 leavers to
check their destination. Please can you forward any figures you have for the
2008 leavers cohort who were home educated, showing the number or
percentage that were classified as Not Settled in a Full Time Activity, when this
survey was carried out, and comparative information for all young people in this
cohort. The attached Annex helps explain the different categories that contribute
to this total.
Youth and Connexions are not in a position to publish any destination data until
it has been submitted to and verified by Government Office for London via
Careervision Management Information providers.
Missing children (runaways)
Local authorities should hold information about missing children. If you have
information available that identifies their last known education setting, please
could you provide the total number of missing children and indicate how many
were electively home educated prior to their disappearance.
None
Background information/case studies
Please add any information or explanations you think would be helpful in
returning this information.
Some local authorities have already provided anonymised case studies
illustrating the difficult circumstances that LAs face in making decisions in relation
to home educating families: we would be grateful for any further case studies you
are able to provide. These will be treated in strictest confidence, bearing in mind
the significant damage that could be caused if any child could be identified
through any form of disclosure of individual or grouped information of this type.
Timescales
We need this information by
1 October in order to collate it in time for the
Select Committee hearing. Therefore we would be very grateful if you could
return information on the attached excel spreadsheet to the secure mailbox
[email address] by 1 October. If you are unable to
complete the entire form we would be very grateful for a partial return as we
appreciate that your administrative systems may not be set up to provide
everything we are requesting.
If you have any questions about this letter please contact Lisa White on 01325
391162 or [email address].
I am very grateful for your assistance while the Review was under way, and
for your continuing support for DCSF as they carry out their consultation on
legislation to implement a registration and monitoring system. I believe that my
proposals will improve support for home educators, and raise the status and
quality of home education, and hope that you will help me make the strongest
possible case to the Select Committee in October.
Yours sincerely
Graham Badman CBE
Annex List of activities included in the Not Settled category
Not Settled in a Full time Activity-
TOTAL Not settled-Active TOTAL Available to the labour market
Part time Learning
Part Time Employment
Personal Development Opportunities
NOT
Not settled- Not Active TOTAL
SETTLED Supporting family - young carers
Supporting family - teenage parents
Illness
Pregnancy
Custodial Sentence
Asylum seekers without citizenship
Other reason
