Dear Editor,
As both a Christian and the Manager of a Local Authority Education Service with responsibility for a number of areas, including the Elective Home Education Service, I can understand some of Joshua Kellard’s concerns (May en) regarding the introduction of a mandatory register of Children out of School as was outlined in the Schools Bill 2022. I also worry about the intrusion of the state in many areas of both church and family life. On balance though, I am very supportive of the introduction of a mandatory register of Children out of School and, in the most serious of cases, that parents are legally held to account should they not comply with the subsequent registration process.
Local Authorities have a duty under Section 436A of the Education Act 1996 to establish (so far as it is possible to do so) the identities of children in its area who are of compulsory school age but who are not registered pupils at a school or receiving some other form of suitable education. Without the introduction of a mandatory register of Children out of School this is impossible.
From a professional perspective, I am hopeful that the government will seek to introduce the registration at the earliest opportunity, as well as increasing the sanctions open to the Magistrates Court where a parent fails to comply with a School Attendance Order.
School Attendance Orders (SAOs) are not new and have been a tool that Local Authorities have had at their disposal for many years. SAOs are used where, despite offers of support and advice, a parent continues to fail to ensure that their child is receiving a ‘suitable education’ as required by Section 7 of the Education Act 1996. The SAO names a school for the child and the parent is issued with an order to ensure they are admitted.
The proposal that the government put forward in the Schools Bill related to SAOs was to increase the sanctions available to Magistrates where a parent has failed to comply with an SAO. Currently the only sanctions open to Magistrates are a fine up to £1,000 or a conditional discharge, which in most cases are ineffective in promoting change. Too often Local Authorities (LAs) are left in a continual carousel where, despite the offer of support, which is often refused by the parent, the LA has no other option than the issuing of a SAO, followed by prosecution and going back to the start, and in all this time the child is failing to be ‘suitably educated’.
The Schools Bill sought to ensure that the sanctions available to the court for failing to comply with an SAO were brought into parity with the offence of a parent knowing that their child was not attending school regularly, but failing to take action to ensure that they did.
Legal action is always a last resort but, when all other avenues have failed, what does society expect an LA to do.
I have seen many examples of outstanding home education in both ‘faith-based’ and ‘secular’ contexts. I have also become aware of children who the LA had no knowledge of and, despite parents claiming to be home educating, were receiving little or no education, including recently a ten-year-old isolated at home and unable to write their own name.
Like many Christians I have fears for the future in terms of the spread of government influence into many areas of both church and family life, and whilst it is right that with grace and wisdom we seek to challenge some aspects of this, please let us consider what the implications of any unintended consequences may be.
Yours sincerely,
Name withheld for work reasons By email
