Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Written evidence submitted by Sir Alan Steer (CWSB162)

Biography

· DfE Adviser 2002-2010.

· Learning Behaviour Report 2005    Chair Practitioner's Working Group

· OfSTED Board Member 2008-2014

· Secondary Headteacher 1985-2008.

Children not in school

I would express my support for the Bill.  Any concerns that I have relate to ensuring that the requirements placed on schools and Local Authorities are met.

I was pleased to note that in Part 2 of the Bill it is intended to require Local Authorities to maintain registers of children who are not in school.  I support the intention to provide better safeguarding for children whose parents have elected home schooling.  While it is perfectly legitimate for parents to choose this option there have been too many cases where this choice has been abused to the detriment of the children concerned.  Clearly it is necessary to ensure that the Local Authorities have the resources to carry out their monitoring duties and that the staff concerned are suitably skilled and trained.

I am making this submission to draw your attention to a category of children who are out of school, but are not being officially home schooled.  In my time as a DfE Adviser and as a member of the OfSTED Board, I worked with others to raise concerns over the large number of children who were known to their Local Authority, but were not being provided with an adequate education in school, or elsewhere, contrary to the legal requirement.  This situation could arise due to the child having Special Needs, generally behavioural, or health difficulties, or there being a shortage of suitable school places.  What provision that was being provided was often limited to no more than 1-2 hours a week, a situation that could continue for over a year.  While good practice could exist, generally a Local Authority did not maintain proper records of such children and did not record any plans for returning them to full time education. This failure occurred most often in the secondary age range and too often reflected an attitude of laissez faire until the pupil reached the age of 16.

I was very concerned by this situation which had continued for many years.  I argued that these children were being socially and educationally excluded (illegally) from society.  I also argued that this situation made them very vulnerable to abuse, being isolated and lacking the support of a school.  In 2010 in the final Education Bill of the then Labour government ,the Secretary of State included a clause confirming the duty of Local Authorities to provide an appropriate level of education to all children for whom it was responsible.  After representations, the incoming Conservative government included this clause in their first Education Act.

As a member of the OfSTED Board I was able to monitor the impact of this aspect of the new Education Act in effecting change.  It was quickly apparent that this had been small.  In 2013 Sir Michael Wilshaw, Chief Inspector, changed the criteria for the inspection of Local Authorities to include sight of evidence that a register was maintained of all children not in school, other than those being home schooled.  Authorities were required to keep a register of such children, indicating the length of time they had been out of school, the educational provision they were receiving and the proposed date of their return to school.  This had a significant effect in improving practice. I am now concerned that this focus no longer exists with the result that children are now being left uneducated and outside school for lengthy periods.  I would also stress that this can leave such children to be extremely vulnerable to abuse.

Recommendations.

1.  Implementation.  Careful consideration is given to identifying what is necessary for the effective implementation of the requirements contained in the Bill.  Implementation will not occur simply when the Bill is passed.

2.  OfSTED.  The DfE and OfSTED review the criteria for inspection of schools and Local Authorities to ensure that they support the implementation of the Act. 

3.  Children out of School.  The DfE provide clear guidance to Local Authorities on their expectations regarding the care of those children who are known to the Authority, but who are not currently receiving an education at school. OfSTED is given the task of inspecting the observance of these guidelines by the Local Authorities.

Sir Alan Steer

28 January 2025