HomeSchooler.org.uk

"Directors of Children's Services
All local authorities in England

17 September 2009

Select Committee hearing on the Review of Elective Home Education in
England

I am writing to make you aware of the forthcoming Select Committee hearing
in early October which is likely to examine the evidence from the various
sources which led me to make the 28 recommendations in my Review. The
Review recognised that most home educators do a good job and that they
should be supported by local authorities (LAs) in accessing appropriate
services for their children. You may be aware from press reports and activity
within your local authority that some sections of the home educating
community are questioning some of the LA evidence which assisted me in
arriving at my conclusions.

I had a good response from LAs to my call for evidence to inform the Review.
This provided a rich source of contextual information which I considered
alongside submissions from individuals and a wide range of organisations
with relevant expertise. Most of my recommendations have not been
challenged, reflecting the sound evidence base. However, a small group of
home educators have refused to accept my conclusion that `the number of
children known to children's social care in some local authorities is
disproportionately high relative to the size of the home educating population'
with others disputing the evidence base that shows that a small but significant
proportion of home educated children are receiving no, or an inadequate,
education.

I would like to strengthen my statistical evidence in advance of the Select
Committee hearing so that it is more extensive and statistically robust. This
would allow the Select Committee to consider good quality factual information
that supplements the qualitative analyses underpinning my report. For this
reason I need a response to this letter by 1 October.

DCSF's `Star Chamber' gave approval for this voluntary data collection on 15
September.

For those LAs which did not submit information earlier

In the course of the Review we collected statistical evidence from a sample of
local authorities on vulnerable children who were home educated. This
provided persuasive evidence for change. However, it was a small sample
and we would like to supplement this data in order to provide more statistically
rigorous information to the Select Committee about safeguarding and
educational issues that affect home educated children. The supplementary
information we are seeking is described below and we would be grateful if you
could indicate for each dataset whether the figures are accurate or estimates.

Home educated children where there are child protection concerns

Each year local authorities return statistics on the number of referrals,
assessments and children who are subject to a child protection plan (the
`CPR3' return). We would be grateful if you could identify the number of home
educated children of compulsory school age who are the subject of child
protection plans using the attached spreadsheet (information reproduced
below for ease of reference). We will compare this information on home
educated children with the wider child population using the 2008-09 CPR3
return published on 17 September 2009.

CPR3 Category Number of EHE children
Electively home educated children
who were the subject of a child
protection plan at 31 March 2009

Number of electively home educated
children in local authority

Inadequate education

Please can you provide information about the number of electively home
educated children of compulsory school age not receiving a suitable
education:

Number not receiving any education

Number receiving some education but
not a full time education

Number receiving a full time but not
`suitable' education

Number not cooperating with
monitoring so no assessment can be
made

Known to home educate but no
assessment yet
Total number of electively home
educated children not known to be
receiving a `suitable education'

School attendance orders

Number issued in past 12 months to electively home educated children
(please do not include any child more than once).

NEETs

The Connexions Service carries out an annual survey of year 11 leavers to
check their destination. Please can you forward any figures you have for the
2008 leavers cohort who were home educated, showing the number or
percentage that were classified as Not Settled in a Full Time Activity, when
this survey was carried out, and comparative information for all young people
in this cohort. The attached Annex helps explain the different categories that
contribute to this total.
Missing children (runaways)

Local authorities should hold information about missing children. If you have
information available that identifies their last known education setting, please
could you provide the total number of missing children and indicate how many
were electively home educated prior to their disappearance.

Background information/case studies

Please add any information or explanations you think would be helpful in
returning this information.

Some local authorities have already provided anonymised case studies
illustrating the difficult circumstances that LAs face in making decisions in
relation to home educating families: we would be grateful for any further case
studies you are able to provide. These will be treated in strictest confidence,
bearing in mind the significant damage that could be caused if any child could
be identified through any form of disclosure of individual or grouped
information of this type.
Timescales

We need this information by 1 October in order to collate it in time for the
Select Committee hearing. Therefore we would be very grateful if you could
return information on the attached excel spreadsheet to the secure mailbox
independenthe.review@dcsf.gsi.gov.uk by 1 October. If you are unable to
complete the entire form we would be very grateful for a partial return as we
appreciate that your administrative systems may not be set up to provide
everything we are requesting.

If you have any questions about this letter please contact Lisa White on 01325
391162 or lisa.white@dcsf.gsi.gov.uk.

I am very grateful for your assistance while the Review was under way, and
for your continuing support for DCSF as they carry out their consultation on
legislation to implement a registration and monitoring system. I believe that
my proposals will improve support for home educators, and raise the status
and quality of home education, and hope that you will help me make the
strongest possible case to the Select Committee in October.

Yours sincerely

Graham Badman CBE