Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill: Proposed changes to home education and more

Under proposed legislation recently introduced in Parliament, the right to home education would no longer be automatic for parents of the most at-risk children, under the current proposals.

Education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, unveiled the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill on 17 December 2024. This Bill has been introduced in an attempt to address safeguarding concerns prompted by the high-profile killing of Sara Sharif and the failure of child protection services to intervene despite warning signs.

Proposed changes include a new register to identify children not in school, as well as a measure giving children unique identifier numbers to record issues in a bid to prevent children from “falling through the cracks”.

Other aspects include changing the process for School Attendance Orders, which current legislation allows to be used in certain circumstances, and are used rarely. This proposal would give local authorities the power to intervene and insist on school attendance if it is deemed that their home environment is unsuitable or unsafe.

The new Bill proposes to change the legislation on the right of parents to deregister their child out of school for the purposes of home education, to require authorisation from the local authority if the child is subject to a child protection investigation or under a child protection plan. The bill also proposes that authority must also be provided for parents to deregister  children registered at special and independent schools regardless of any child protection investigation or child protection plan.

The Bill stipulates that relevant children shall not be permitted to be withdrawn from school for the purposes of education otherwise than at school if the local authority considers, either that it would be in the child’s best interests to receive education by regular attendance at school, or that no suitable arrangements have been made for the education of the child otherwise than at school. In all other circumstances, the local authority must grant consent.

The Department for Education have predicted that the new measures will ensure that teachers and schools are consistently involved in decisions surrounding safeguarding children in their area, in the hope that this will create a real join up between children’s social care, schools and local services.

The practicalities of these proposed changes mean that parents will require local authority consent for home educating those that are identified as at-risk children. This has raised concerns for parents of children with special educational needs where is simply isn’t possible for their child to cope within a school setting, who parents want to electively home educate. This follows on from reported issues where local authorities have utilised child protective proceedings as a crux to subvert SEN appeals.

Given that there are many children who are plainly unable to access school until they have an Education Health and Care Plan (‘EHCP’), many parents of SEN children are apprehensive about what these proposed changes  will mean for them, if the Bill becomes legislation. With the legislation amending  the right for parents to home educate the most vulnerable children, this could mean that children are forced into a school in which they cannot cope; exacerbating the significant and complex difficulties of the child.

Parents of children with special educational needs will sadly already be familiar with the considerable length of time associated with ensuring their child is provided with adequate special educational provision, as well as being educated in an appropriate setting. A major concern here is that the proposed extended requirement for local authority consent to deregister their child from school will only serve to elongate an already drawn-out and arduous process. So far, the Bill only provides the limited guidance that the local authority must make their decision regarding consent “without undue delay”. Further information on this, may be added to the Bill as it passes through Parliament or separately through guidance produced by the Department for Education if these proposed changes become law.  

In addition to proposing changes to protect and safeguard children not in education, proposals also aim to ensure children in independent educational placements ‘receive a safe and broad education’. Proposals targeted at independent educational placements, seek to increase the number of independent education placements who provide full-time education to children of compulsory school age are registered and are subjected to regular inspection. As part of this, the Bill also proposes a definition of the term ‘full-time education’. This is a term which currently has no legal definition but the proposed definition fails to quantify how many hours equates to ‘full-time education’.

Whilst the obvious intention of the Bill is to protect and safe-guard the most vulnerable children, proper regulation and communication between agencies is going to be paramount for its success. Striking the balance is going to be an arduous task and will almost certainly have teething issues, and the potential issues for parents of SEN children cannot be ignored.

If you are concerned about the proposed changes to home education or feel that your child may require the support of an EHCP, please do not hesitate to contact our specialist SEN lawyers today. The Tribunal process can be complex and daunting for parents but our team of experts are able to guide you through the entire process step-by-step. Our specialist solicitors provide impartial and detailed initial advice, prepare and lodge appeals on your behalf and provide support throughout the entire Tribunal process, even providing representation at the final hearing if required.

You can call our Education Law Solicitors on 0333 202 7175 or email education@hcbgroup.com