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Home Education - registration and monitoring proposals Consultation Response Form
The closing date for this consultation is: 19 October 2009 |
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THIS FORM IS NOT INTERACTIVE. If you wish to respond electronically please use the online or offline response facility available on the Department for Children, Schools and Families e-consultation website (http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/consultations).
The information you provide in your response will be subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and Environmental Information Regulations, which allow public access to information held by the Department. This does not necessarily mean that your response can be made available to the public as there are exemptions relating to information provided in confidence and information to which the Data Protection Act 1998 applies. You may request confidentiality by ticking the box provided, but you should note that neither this, nor an automatically-generated e-mail confidentiality statement, will necessarily exclude the public right of access.
Please tick if you want us to keep your response confidential. |
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Name |
Ian Norman-Bruce |
Organisation (if applicable) |
CE@Islington on behalf of Islington Local Authority |
Address: |
London Borough Of Islington 222 Upper Street London N1 1XR |
If your enquiry is related to the policy content of the consultation you can contact the Public Communications Unit on:
Telephone: 0870 000 2288
e-mail: [email address]
If you have a query relating to the consultation process you can contact the Consultation Unit on:
Telephone: 01928 794888
Fax: 01928 794 311
e-mail: [email address]
Please tick the box that best describes you as a respondent.
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Home educated child/young person |
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Home educating parent |
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Organisation representing home educating families |
Yes |
Local Authorities |
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Other organisation with responsibility for children (please specify in box below) |
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Other (please specify in box below) |
Please Specify: I am Head of Targeted Services, within Cambridge Education @ Islington, with responsibility within the LA for Elective Home Education.
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1 Do you agree that these proposals strike the right balance between the rights of parents to home educate and the rights of children to receive a suitable education?
YES |
Agree |
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Disagree |
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Not sure |
Comments:
We agree that the proposals strike the correct balance between the rights of parents to home educate and the rights of children to receive a suitable education. We agree that parents have the right to home educate, although that this must be within a framework that ensures that children receive a suitable education. Additionally it is essential that children are safeguarded and any system that monitors the quality of provision must be fully integrated into the safeguarding of children agenda.
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2 Do you agree that a register should be kept?
YES |
Agree |
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Disagree |
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Not sure |
Comments: Yes, this local authority already maintains a register of all children that it believes to be home educated. This forms the basis of ensuring that appropriate checks are made and monitoring activities take place. Under current arrangements we cannot be certain that the LA is aware of all children who are home educated.
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3 Do you agree with the information to be provided for registration?
YES |
Agree |
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Disagree |
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Not sure |
Comments: Although only basic information will be necessary for registration, there will need to be clear guidance / regulation on information that needs to be provided at later stages of the process to enable an accurate assessment on the suitability of education.
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4 Do you agree that home educating parents should be required to keep the register up to date?
YES |
Agree |
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Disagree |
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Not sure |
Comments: Yes, this is essential to ensure that the LA can carry out its duties.
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5 Do you agree that it should be a criminal offence to fail to register or to provide inadequate or false information?
YES |
Agree |
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Disagree |
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Not sure |
Comments: Yes but guidance and regulations should ensure that good practice in this process should be related to ongoing attempts to engage. This LA generally has good relationships with families who elect to home educate and would wish ensure that (within this essential statutory requirement) those relationships continue.
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6 a) Do you agree that home educated children should stay on the roll of their former school for 20 days after parents notify that they intend to home educate?
YES |
Agree |
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Disagree |
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Not sure |
Comments: Agreed this sits well within the framework of schools responsibilities of pupils on roll and the removal from roll. Once notification has been received this should be recorded specifically in the register probably as a B `alternative provision'. It should not be regarded as an absence as the parent is taking responsibility for the education of their child. An assumption is made that guidance will be issued that defines what actions are taken in those 20 days and the LA position on whether to agree that the child comes off roll. Our view is that it may be better to allow a longer period for assessment that is longer than the need to carry out an initial visit. If there is a doubt as to suitability in that visit then a dialogue may need to be had with other services within the LA such as children's social care. It is suggested that the child remains on school for 30 days and a visit made within 20 days. If there is a delay in making a visit due to parent postponing visit then an extension may need to be made to this period. The maintaining of a pupil on the roll of a school makes it easier for the LA to ensure continuity of educational provision if the education provided by a parent is not suitable.
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6 b) Do you agree that the school should provide the local authority with achievement and future attainment data?
YES |
Agree |
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Disagree |
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Not sure |
Comments: Additionally we believe that the school should have a duty to provide information related to safeguarding including any concerns that they may have had at the time the parent elects to home educate. This would be no different to good practice when a pupil moves from one school to another.
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7 Do you agree that DCSF should take powers to issue statutory guidance in relation to the registration and monitoring of home education?
YES |
Agree |
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Disagree |
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Not sure |
Comments: A clear framework is essential; however it should be simple, clear and not burdensome to achieve its purpose.
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8 Do you agree that children about whom there are substantial safeguarding concerns should not be home educated?
YES |
Agree |
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Disagree |
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Not sure |
Comments: The statutory guidance will need to be specific on process for the local authority to consider. Certainly any child subject to a protection plan who is on the elective home education register or the parent is seeking to home educate should be subject to review. It is our belief that safeguarding concerns need to be significant for the LA not to agree that elective home education is appropriate.
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9 Do you agree that the local authority should visit the premises where home education is taking place provided 2 weeks notice is given?
YES |
Agree |
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Disagree |
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Not sure |
Comments: The two week notice allows the timescale for visiting within 20 days, just! If date needs re-arranging then period child remaining on roll may need to be extended. LA would need additional resources.
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10 Do you agree that the local authority should have the power to interview the child, alone if this is judged appropriate, or if not in the presence of a trusted person who is not the parent/carer?
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Agree |
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Disagree |
YES |
Not sure |
Comments: This is difficult and maybe that power is already held within safeguarding responsibilities if safeguarding is an issue. Maybe this can be embedded within guidance indicating that maybe necessary for the LA officer carrying out this responsibility may need to see child alone as part of decision making on agreeing suitability of education. It will be rare for the LA officer to need to see child alone.
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11 Do you agree that the local authority should visit the premises and interview the child within four weeks of home education starting, after 6 months has elapsed, at the anniversary of home education starting, and thereafter at least on an annual basis? This would not preclude more frequent monitoring if the local authority thought that was necessary.
YES |
Agree |
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Disagree |
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Not sure |
Comments: Yes this visit is essential but would require additional resources.
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Thank you for taking the time to let us have your views. We do not intend to acknowledge individual responses unless you place an 'X' in the box below.
Please acknowledge this reply
Here at the Department for Children, Schools and Families we carry out our research on many different topics and consultations. As your views are valuable to us, would it be alright if we were to contact you again from time to time either for research or to send through consultation documents?
YESYes |
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All DCSF public consultations are required to conform to the following criteria within the Government Code of Practice on Consultation:
Criterion 1: Formal consultation should take place at a stage when there is scope to influence the policy outcome.
Criterion 2: Consultations should normally last for at least 12 weeks with consideration given to longer timescales where feasible and sensible.
Criterion 3: Consultation documents should be clear about the consultation process, what is being proposed, the scope to influence and the expected costs and benefits of the proposals.
Criterion 4: Consultation exercises should be designed to be accessible to, and clearly targeted at, those people the exercise is intended to reach.
Criterion 5: Keeping the burden of consultation to a minimum is essential if consultations are to be effective and if consultees' buy-in to the process is to be obtained.
Criterion 6: Consultation responses should be analysed carefully and clear feedback should be provided to participants following the consultation.
Criterion 7: Officials running consultations should seek guidance in how to run an effective consultation exercise and share what they have learned from the experience.
If you have any comments on how DCSF consultations are conducted, please contact Donna Harrison, DCSF Consultation Co-ordinator, tel: 01928 794304 / email: [email address]
Thank you for taking time to respond to this consultation.
Completed questionnaires and other responses should be sent to the address shown below by 19 October 2009
Send by post to:
Consultation Unit
Area GB
East Lane
CastleView House
Runcorn
Cheshire
WA7 2GJ
Send by e-mail to: [email address]