Home Education -
registration and
monitoring proposals
Consultation Response Form
The closing date for this consultation is: 19
October 2009
Your comments must reach us by that date.
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.
Name Adrian
Orr
Organisation (if applicable) Suffolk County Council
Address: Endeavour
House
Russell Road
Ipswich
IP1 2BX
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.
Home
Organisation
educated
Home educating
representing
child/young
parent
home educating
person
families
Other organisation
Other (please
Local
with responsibility for
X
specify in box
Authorities
children (please
below)
specify in box below)
This is the formal response from Suffolk County Council collated by the Senior
Adviser (Social Inclusion)
Please Specify:
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?
X Agree
Disagree
Not sure
Comments:
We agree that a balance is needed. Therefore as a matter of urgency the DCSF
needs to address the recommendation to provide LA’s with an agreed definition
of what constitutes a ‘suitable’ education. This needs to make reference to the
Every Child Matters agenda, and to set a time scale to help officers fulfil their
duties under the new recommendations as soon as possible.
The proposals respect the rights of parents but provide a necessary mechanism
whereby the right of every home-educated child to receive a suitable education is
much more likely to be safeguarded than under present arrangements.
Clarifying the above is in the best interests of children, home educating parents and the LA. A
robust, transparent and clear national set of expectation regarding home education would
significantly improve the current unacceptable situation. This LA works very positively with a
significant number of home educating parents. However we have no way of knowing how many
are actually out there.
It must also be noted that those home educating parents who are already putting rich
programmes in place for their children have nothing to fear from the proposed new approach.
There is also a clear need to provide appropriate resources in order to meet the demands of the
proposed changes.
2 Do you agree that a register should be kept?
X Agree
Disagree
Not sure
Comments:
A register is an essential part of the proposals. Without it the rights of home-
educated children cannot be fully protected, because many children are unknown
to LAs. Without a register, Local Authorities cannot satisfy themselves that all
children within their care are receiving a suitable education.
Whilst this may be unpopular with home educating families our experience with
many is a positive and co-operative one. A register will clearly establish the scale
of the sector and allow for better communication and transparency.
We would also like to know how would the DCSF ensure that children withdrawn
from the registers of independent schools for the purposes of home education
would be identified?
3 Do you agree with the information to be provided for registration?
X Agree
Disagree
Not sure
Comments:
It would also be a good idea for parents to be required to give their reasons for
choosing home education at this stage in order to help LA’s fulfil their duties as
proposed under Recommendation 3.
4 Do you agree that home educating parents should be required to keep the
register up to date?
X Agree
Disagree
Not sure
Comments:
Yes this is absolutely essential, unless a register is kept up-to-date, LA’s could
lose track of children. All Las have clear responsibilities around children missing
education. In addition Currently parents do not always inform the LA when they
change address or contact details.
5 Do you agree that it should be a criminal offence to fail to register or to provide
inadequate or false information?
X Agree
Disagree
Not sure
Comments:
Yes, this is the only way to ensure that registration takes place, as some home
educators do not wish to engage voluntarily with LA’s. Unfortunately, some
parents will not provide adequate or accurate information unless the law requires
them to do so. It also conveys the message to parents that the decision to home
educate is a serious decision, which carries a statutory responsibility. It is worth
noting however that some home educators are very co-operative and work in
partnership with the LA, unfortunately it is a minority for whom legal processes
will be required.
The dimension also emphasises the important choice that parents are making
when electing to home educate.
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?
X Agree
Disagree
Not sure
Comments:
Yes this would be in the interests of the child given that some parents elect to
home educate ‘by default’ because they are unhappy with the education or the
environment provided by schools. Sometimes, given the time for their concerns
to be addressed, these can be resolved by liaison between schools, parents and
LA’s to the mutual satisfaction of all parties.
Essentially this will give some parents the opportunity to change their minds
without losing the school place.
Will children in this position be expected to continue to attend school? If so, how
will this be enforced in practice? If not, how will the DCSF ensure that this
proposal is not used by some parents to secure a period, or periods, of
authorised absence?
6 b) Do you agree that the school should provide the local authority with
achievement and future attainment data?
X Agree
Disagree
Not sure
Comments:
Yes, any background provided by schools, educational or otherwise, is useful to
local authority officers monitoring home education, as it gives them a better
picture of a child’s overall needs and level of ability and most importantly their
potential.
Such data will also enable the LA to make a more accurate assessment of the
planned provision.
7 Do you agree that DCSF should take powers to issue statutory guidance in
relation to the registration and monitoring of home education?
X Agree
Disagree
Not sure
Comments:
Clarity is needed for the benefit of children, home educating parents and Las.
Such guidance would send a clear message to home educators and Las and
provide a framework as to how all parties need to work together.
8 Do you agree that children about whom there are substantial safeguarding
concerns should not be home educated?
X Agree
Disagree
Not sure
Comments:
We recognise from our work that many home educating families provide safe
environments for learning where children rights are respected.
But we must also recognise that in some cases children are in circumstances
where safeguarding concerns have been raised. Whilst such cases are rare there
needs to be clear protection for these children who may be at greater risk of
harm. In such situation home education is not appropriate.
Children need to be able to learn in a safe environment which respects their
rights and which allows their safety and welfare to be monitored regularly, if there
are significant safeguarding concerns.
9 Do you agree that the local authority should visit the premises where home
education is taking place provided 2 weeks notice is given?
X Agree
Disagree
Not sure
Comments:
A visit is always easier for the LA officer and the parents and serves the interest
of the child and the family rather than the submission of a report by the parents.
Two weeks is a reasonable notice time, but I anticipate that most visits will be
agreed between the parents and the LA by telephone.
In some circumstances a visit to the premises can alert LA’s to safeguarding
issues, such as neglect, and also to circumstances in which parents are unable to
provide an efficient learning environment.
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?
X Agree
Disagree
Not sure
Comments:
Yes, without this right of access to the child, parents’ assurances that children are
safe, well and making educational progress via suitable learning opportunities
have to be taken on trust. Whilst many home educating parents have their child
interest at heart we can not be sure that all children are safe, well and making
good progress for this reason access to the child needs to be a fundamental
plank in any new arrangements if
all children are to be safe.
It is very important to be able to give the child a voice in all circumstances.
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.
X Agree
Disagree
Not sure
Comments:
With the caveat that the six monthly interview is not a necessary statutory
requirement. Local Authority officers are skilled and knowledgeable about
learning and cognition and are able to judge during the initial visit if a child is safe
from harm and if parents are willing to provide, and are capable of delivering, a
‘suitable’ and ‘efficient’ home education. At this point LA’s can make an informed
decision as to when they next need to visit, or whether an annual visit will suffice.
This is in the interest of children, home educating parents and the LA.
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 X
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?
Yes
No
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]
Document Outline
