Parents will no longer have an automatic right to educate their children at home if their child is subject to a child protection investigation or under a child protection plan under a bill being introduced into the Commons today
The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill will introduce new registers to identify children who are not in school and will pave the way for a unique identifier number for children across services – like the national insurance number works for adults.
There have been a number of shocking cases of children being failed by a disjointed system most recently the murder of Sara Sharif murdered by her father and stepmother after being taken out of school to be educated at home
Teachers and educators are often the first to spot warnings of abuse or neglect, and last year, schools were the second largest referrer of cases into children’s social care. Measures in the Bill will make sure that teachers and schools are always involved in decisions around safeguarding children in their area.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said:
In recent years, too many children have been failed by their last line of defence: the state.
This Bill will be a seminal moment for child protection. No more words, no more lessons learnt. This government will put children first at every turn.
That means a child-centred government, with better protections for young people and real join up between children’s social care, schools and local services. Alongside further measures to drive high and rising standards in our schools, this Bill will deliver on this government’s Plan for Change, so that all children, whatever their circumstances, can achieve and thrive.
The proposals will also see failing schools run by local authorities not be automatically forced to become an academy, and councils “will be able to welcome proposals for all types of school, not just academies”.
