Supplementary memorandum submitted by
the Department for Children, Schools and Families
RESPONSES TO
SELECT COMMITTEE
FOLLOW UP
QUESTIONS
Q1. Many of those who submitted evidence, including
members of the Review's expert reference group, commented on how
rushed the exercise was. Given the sensitivity and complexity
of the issues involved, why was the Review given such a short
time in which to report?
Reply
We do not consider that the review period was
short given the seriousness of the concerns being expressed to
us. Graham Badman was able to devote a substantial amount of time
to the review as he had recently retired from full time employment,
which meant that he was able to carry out the necessary fieldwork
and enquiries in a timely fashion. Other reviews have been carried
out on similar timescales—for example the review undertaken
by Sir Roger Singleton into the safeguarding arrangements for
children at independent, non-maintained and boarding schools,
which began in October 2008 and concluded in March 2009.
Q2. Why did the Department announce its intention
to take forward many of the Badman report's recommendations before
it had costed the recommendations?
Reply
The report confirmed that the current system
is not working—there was strong evidence that some home
educated children were not receiving an adequate education and
there were child protection concerns about a small minority. It
was clear that urgent action was necessary. While more work was
needed on the detail of any system of registration and monitoring,
it would be wrong to accept that there were serious flaws in the
system but not take forward the recommendations while they were
being costed. Costings are now in place and estimates were set
out in the full response to the Badman Report which we published
on 9 October.
November 2009
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