The government's summary and response to the consultation

The government's response and summary of consultation on The Draft Legislative Programme 2009/10 has now been published on the website of the Office of the Leader of the House of Commons.

It contains the following section on home education:

37. While some local authorities thought improving monitoring arrangements for children educated at home was important, over 200 people had concerns. They felt that it was expensive and inappropriate for the Government to intervene and especially to interview children without their parents being present. They also pointed out that the Department for Children, Schools and Families was still consulting on the Review of Home Education in England and were concerned that there would not be sufficient time to take responses into account in the Bill.

Government response: A public consultation on a proposed system of registration and monitoring of home educated children closed on 19 October after an extended 18 week period. Over 5,000 replies were received and the Government hopes to publish a response by the end of November. The consultation responses and any report from the Children, Schools and
Families Parliamentary Select Committee will be used to help set out the detail of regulations and statutory guidance.

The decision to legislate for a registration and monitoring scheme for home educated children was taken because the Badman Review confirmed that the current system is not working and that the Government cannot be sure that all home educated children are receiving a suitable education and are safe and well. In framing primary legislation, the Government has taken into account the concerns raised by home educators about interviewing children without their parents being present. Where there is good cooperation between local authorities and parents, it will be rare for a local authority officer
to need to see a child without its parents being present. However, the Government also believes it is right that local authorities should be able to seek confirmation direct from a child that he or she is receiving a suitable education, where there are doubts over the evidence provided by parents.