Dear Editor,
As both a Christian and the Manager of a Local Authority Education Service with responsibility for a number of areas, including the Elective Home Education Service, I can understand some of Joshua Kellard’s concerns (May en) regarding the introduction of a mandatory register of Children out of School as was outlined in the Schools Bill 2022. I also worry about the intrusion of the state in many areas of both church and family life. On balance though, I am very supportive of the introduction of a mandatory register of Children out of School and, in the most serious of cases, that parents are legally held to account should they not comply with the subsequent registration process.
Local Authorities have a duty under Section 436A of the Education Act 1996 to establish (so far as it is possible to do so) the identities of children in its area who are of compulsory school age but who are not registered pupils at a school or receiving some other form of suitable education. Without the introduction of a mandatory register of Children out of School this is impossible.
