Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Written evidence submitted by Friends, Families and Travellers to the Public Bill Committee (CWSB215)

Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill (2024-2025)  – improving the experiences of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children

Executive Summary

· There are a disproportionate number of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller [1] pupils not in school [2] , so parents and children from the communities will be impacted by the implementation of the Compulsory Children Not in School registers. As such, consideration should be given to the following, to help improve support and understand some of the underlying reasons for not being in school:

o The Compulsory Children Not in School register should include information on the reasons for withdrawal from school and allow parents and pupils to self-select those reasons, to understand underlying issues such as bullying, being unsupported with special educational needs, or exclusion.

o Gypsy and Traveller families who home educate and travel could miss correspondence and other compliance requirements of the register, leading to a greater risk of prosecution.

o Provision must be made to ensure local authorities do not discriminate against Gypsy and Traveller families who live in caravans and/or on a site, when assessing the home environment to determine if it is an appropriate place to conduct home education.

o The duty to support families who are home-educating provides an opportunity to improve the level of support for home-educated children. A

consultation should be conducted on the types of support needed by such families, followed by necessary measures for provision included in statutory guidance to local authorities.

· Changes in admissions processes and policies should ensure that Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children are eligible and supported to access school places. The Bill provides an opportunity to strengthen and improve admissions processes to ensure Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller children can access school places.

· Targeted consultation must be conducted with Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities as part of the development of the Bill and statutory guidance.

Introduction

1. Friends, Families and Travellers is a national charity working to end racism and discrimination against Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities and to protect the right to pursue a nomadic way of life. We welcome measures to ensure the effective safeguarding of children, and to support access to education. This Bill provides an opportunity to strengthen the processes and levels of support available for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller families to access education. However, consideration should also be given for any potentially discriminatory application of certain provisions in the Bill.

2. This submission focuses on Clause 25 of the Bill, which would insert new sections 436B to 436G and a new schedule 31A into the Education Act (1996), creating duties relating to a new register of children not in school [3] . Measures in the Bill, as outlined in the Department for Education’s Policy Summary Note, include:

· ‘Compulsory Children Not in School registers in each local authority area in England.

· A duty on local authorities to provide support to the parents of children on their registers.

· Changes to the School Attendance Order (SAO) process to make it more efficient.

· A requirement whereby parents of some children for whom there are existing safeguarding concerns or attend special schools will need local authority consent to home educate (and where children subject to some child protection processes are already being home educated, the local authority will be able to require them to attend school).

· A requirement for local authorities to consider the home and other learning environments when determining whether or not children should be required to attend school.’

Understanding the reasons why children are not in school

3. The development of the regulations outlining the specific details that need to be included in children not in school registers will be an opportunity to collect data on the reasons children may not be in school. This would help identify and address any underlying issues on an individual level and themes on a broader level, such as bullying or a lack of support for children with special educational needs, off-rolling, or exclusions. As part of the process of being added to the register, parents and children should have the opportunity to self-select their reason for not being in school.

Gypsy and Traveller families who travel

4. There is a higher risk of a punitive approach being applied to Gypsy and Traveller families who travel (for cultural or economic purposes, either regularly or periodically) from one local authority area to another. As the register is held on a local authority level, if a family is moving in and out of areas, they may not be present to comply with some of the requirements of the register (or any potential School Attendance Orders, which could lead to prosecution if not complied with). This needs to be considered as part of any guidance relating to the registers.

School Attendance Orders (SOAs)

5. Changes to SAOs in the Bill include a duty on local authorities to ‘consider all of the settings where the child is being educated and where the child lives,’ to determine the suitability of the home education. Whilst this measure seeks to add protection and oversight for children who are at risk of harm, there is a danger this will be applied through a prejudicial lens against Gypsy and Traveller children. Some public sector workers, including midwives and social workers, hold and apply views (contrary to the Public Sector Equality Duty), that a caravan is not a ‘suitable’ home.

Support for parents of children on the register

6. Alongside the new children not in school register, comes a duty on local authorities to provide support for parents of children on the register. This ‘support’ is not defined in the Bill itself but is just a minimum requirement to give advice or information (when requested by the parent or carer). There needs to be a greater level of understanding of the forms of support needed for home-educating families, and resourcing to match the need.

7. A consultation should be conducted to gather views on what home-educating children and parents want and need in forms of support. This could include, for example, a list of tutors, funding for tutors, home-school clubs on sites, and support in accessing vocational courses.

Local authority direction powers and Fair Access Protocols

8. Measures in the Bill will also ‘extend local authorities’ current powers to direct a maintained school to admit a child, to also enable them to direct an academy in the same way’, including where a ‘Fair Access Protocol’ has failed to secure a school place for a child [4] . Fair Access Protocols already exist and are designed to assist specific groups of children in obtaining a school place, where applying through the in-year process has failed to do so.

9. Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller children are named as eligible for referral through Fair Access Protocols, but this lever has not been consistently effective in securing places, particularly for Gypsy and Traveller families who are travelling. The Bill provides an opportunity to strengthen these processes, to ensure Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller children can access school places.

10. Any changes in admissions processes and policies, the School Admissions Code, or Fair Access Protocols, should ensure that Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children are eligible and supported to access school places. This should apply to all Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children, with special attention given to families who are travelling or without a permanent address. Gypsy, Roma and Traveller civil society should be included as part of targeted consultations on changes to the Schools Admissions Code and Fair Access Protocols.

11. Targeted efforts are needed to improve access, achievement, support and engagement in education, for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children, through initiatives such as the Traveller Education Service (which formerly existed but was vastly reduced).

Statutory Guidance on the register and related duties

12. The Secretary of State will have the ability to issue statutory guidance to local authorities on the register and related duties. The Department for Education’s Policy Summary Note states:

‘The final contents of the guidance will be subject to consultation with stakeholders; however, we would expect it to include information such as:

• How local authorities should engage with home educating families in relation to children not in school register.

• Entering / recording of information on registers.

• Procedures for changes to registers (amendments, deletions).

• Information sharing practices

• Guidance on the minimum requirement of support to offer to home educators,

• Considering the home and other learning environments.’

13. It is crucial that a thorough and targeted consultation with Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities is conducted, to highlight the ranging impacts of this Bill, help address some of the concerns outlined above, and to implement measures that will support Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children and parents to access and maintain an education.  

About us

 

Friends, Families and Travellers is a leading national charity that works to end racism and discrimination against Gypsies, Travellers and Roma, regardless of ethnicity, nationality, culture or background, whether settled or mobile.

www.gypsy-traveller.org

February 2025