Issue - meetings

Members are asked to consider if the Children, Young People and Learning (O&S) Panel should submit a response to the Government’s call for evidence on greater oversight of children whose parents elect to educate them at home and the consultation on revised DfE guidance documents.

The Chairman informed members about a Department for Education consultation ‘Elective Home Education Consultation: call for evidence’ and Panel members discussed whether or not to respond.

In order to support the Panel preparing a response the Chairman requested the following data:

·         the number of children currently educated at home

·         how many of those children are in each year group

·         how many of those children are engaged with the local authority

·         how long has each child has been educated at home

Nikki Edwards, Director of Children, Young People and Learning explained that they would not be able to provide data on how long a child had been educated at home as they had no statutory duty to collect this data.

Councillor Dr Barnard, Executive Member for Children, Young People and Learning reported that a recent South East regional meeting had raised a common concern about the scope of the review and the lack of parental accountability. Panel Members echoed these concerns and gave examples of parents who saw home education as an easy option and there was potentially a lack of real education and socialising opportunities for these children.

Members agreed to send a robust co-ordinated response and requested Governance and Scrutiny organised a meeting to agree their views which could feed into the Bracknell Forest Council response.

Actions:

·         Governance & Scrutiny Co-ordinator to arrange meeting for Panel members to meet to discuss their response to the consultation and forward to the Executive Member for inclusion into the Bracknell Forest Council response