Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat) introduced his private member’s bill, the Home School Education Registration and Support Bill [HL], in the House of Lords on 5 September 2024. It is due to receive its second reading on 15 November 2024. The bill’s main provisions would require local authorities to maintain a register of children in its area who are of compulsory school age but are not in school. It would also require the parents of such children to provide certain information to their local authority in relation to the register.
In February 2024, the Department for Education published experimental statistics on the number of children missing education, as well as the number of children home schooled in England. It estimated that during the 2022/23 academic year, there were 117,100 children missing education and 126,100 receiving elective home education at any point. The department said that both figures represent an increase from the previous year.
Concerns have been raised about the quality of education some of the children who are home schooled receive. Currently, there is no mandatory system of registration for children who are not in school. The Conservative government under Theresa May consulted on proposals to establish a local authority registration system for children who do not attend state-funded or registered independent schools. Boris Johnson’s government subsequently said it would introduce legislation to take forward the plans. However, no such legislation was enacted in the previous parliament, despite several bills containing related provisions being introduced.
