I wrote to David Laws, the education spokesperson, as follows, a week ago.
Dear Mr Laws
I am writing to you in your capacity as Lib Dem spokesperson for
education and children’s matters, to inquire as to whether you have come across the Government’s latest consultation on home education. This is the third consultation in 4 years, and is apparently a prelude to yet another, according to responses from various MPs so far. The consultation has been rushed into existence, is available over the internet only and only for four weeks – I, along with several others, have complained to the Commons Select committee that this appears to breach the code for consultations.
We are told that it is in response to an extreme situation, but have not been told what this situation is.
The press release can be found here:
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/pns/DisplayPN.cgi?pn_id=2009_0013 and contains the following quote from Baroness Morgan.
“Making sure children are safe, well and receive a good education is our most serious responsibility. Parents are able, quite rightly, to choose whether they want to educate children at home, and a very small number do. I’m sure, the vast majority do a good job. However, there are concerns that some children are not receiving the education they need. And in some extreme cases, home education could be used as a cover for abuse. We cannot allow this to happen and are committed to doing all we can to help ensure children are safe, wherever they are educated.
This review will look at whether the right systems are in place that allow local authorities and other agencies to ensure that any concerns about the safety, welfare or education of home educated children are addressed quickly and effectively. The review will of course talk to home educating families to ensure their views and experiences are heard.”
As you can imagine, the headlines in a variety of papers immediately go on to talk about home educators abusing children, and indeed, Q 6 of the consultation deals precisely with that issue.
“Some people have expressed concern that home education could be used as a cover for child abuse, forced marriage, domestic servitude or other forms of child neglect. What do you think Government should do to ensure this does not happen?”
It starts with a comment about hearsay, and then goes on to assume that that comment is true and the situation must be prevented. If it were true it should indeed be prevented, but when the NSPCC was asked what evidence there was for any of these accusations, it appears that there is none.
Many home educated families are feeling persecuted and harassed by this continual government bullying and intimidation, with the NSPCC, theoretically an independent children’s charity, only a step behind. The latest guidelines from DCSF were issued only in 2007, after full consultation with home educators and groups representing them as well as LAs, and despite this, the NSPCC and Government are calling for a full review of these “outdated” guidelines. If this is all they have achieved in their latest consultations, I can’t see how holding yet another one is going to get us any further, unless of course, the whole point is that so far they have not managed to reach the point they are aiming for and they are going to continue to wear down our community with these defamatory insinuations.
I would like to know what the Liberal Democrat party line is on this situation, to the best of my knowledge we have not yet heard it, although the Conservatives have been very quick to respond in a positive matter to our concerns.
Thank you for your response on this issue – the consultation is short in time, running only until 20 February, so I would appreciate your thoughts as soon as possible. This is not my timescale, it is the government’s and it seems to me they are rushing us as yet another tactic to try to scare us into submission.
me
Home educating parent.
I’ve just received the following response.
Dear Ms Blunt,
Thank you for your email.
I am concerned by this issue, and do not believe that a four week online consultation can be adequate. If you have not done so already, you also may wish to contact your local MP and ask them to write to the Secretary of State on this.
The Liberal Democrats believe that parents should be allowed and
supported to home educate. Where appropriate, home education provides a fantastic opportunity for many pupils.
However, it is not acceptable that the Local Authority almost totally washes its hands of pupils who are being home educated. Many home educators will not want or require support, but, if wanted, assistance should be available, for example to help fix up examinations. We also believe that parents should notify a new local authority if they move into a new area – there is no requirement for this at present.
There are also clearly examples where home education is not providing a child with the best experience, and it is difficult for the LA to intervene in these cases. There does, therefore, remain a case for reviewing how home education works, but it clearly should include a full and proper consultation.
Best wishes,
David Laws MP
I’m very disappointed by this response – I don’t think that the current legislation is lacking in anyway, I think it’s LAs who don’t understand what they can and can’t do. It appears that the situation would not be improved under the LibDems, and if I were in a marginal constituency, I’d have to be considering using my future vote for the Conservatives. Sob.
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