Source: Department for Education published on this website Monday 18 December 2023 by Jill Powell

The updated Working Together to safeguard children has been published as a response to the consultation commenced in June 2023.

Changes made to Working Together December 2023  Also:

Improving practice with children, young people and families updated December 15 2023 (England) which is Advice for local areas to embed working together to safeguard children and the children's social care national framework in practice.

Source: UK Parliament House Commons Library published on this website Tuesday 19 July 2023 by Jill Powell

Number of home educated children

It is not known how many children are home educated in England. However, estimates are available for the number of registered home educated pupils. These estimates are likely to underestimate the total number of home educated pupils because registration with the local authority is voluntary.

In the Autumn 2022 school census the Department for Education collected information from local authorities about registered home educated pupils for the first time. After adjusting for non-responses there were an estimated 80,900 home educated pupils known to local authorities in England in October 2022, and around 86,200 in January 2023.

As this is the first time this data has been collected, we do not know whether this increase is due to seasonal variation or other reasons.

Third party surveys of registered home educated pupils are now several years out of date (as of October 2021 for the Association of Directors of Children’s Services, and March 2019 for the Office of the Schools Adjudicator). These estimates suggest that the number of registered home educated children have increased over time.

Responsibilities of those home schooling

Under the Education Act 1996,  parents and guardians, including those who choose to home-educate their children, are responsible for ensuring that the education provided is efficient, full-time and suitable to the child’s age, ability, aptitude and any special educational needs they may have. They are not required to provide a broad and balanced curriculum and do not have to follow the National Curriculum. Home educating parents must be prepared to assume full financial responsibility, including the cost of any public examinations.

The DfE has published departmental guidance for parents (PDF) on home education.

The role of local authorities

The DfE has also published guidance for local authorities (PDF). Local authorities have no formal powers or duty to monitor the provision of home education. However, they do have duties to identify children not receiving a suitable education, and to intervene. As part of this, the Df recommends that authorities should contact people home educating on at least an annual basis, so they are aware of the suitability of the education being provided.

If it appears a child is not receiving a suitable education, intervention could include issuing a school attendance order, although the Government encourages authorities to address the issue informally before serving a notice.

Local authorities also have powers relating to safeguarding, which may be used if it appears that a lack of suitable education is likely to impair a child’s development.

Plans for a register of children educated outside of school

In April 2019, the Government published a consultation on proposed legislation concerning children not in school. The consultation closed on 24 June 2019.

The consultation sought views on proposals to create four new legal duties effecting schools, local authorities, parents and guardians:

1. A duty on local authorities to keep a register of children of compulsory school age who are not registered at a state-funded or registered independent school.
2. A duty on parents to provide information to their local authority if their child should be on the register.
3. A duty on education settings attended by children on the register, as part of or in conjunction with their home schooling, to respond to enquiries from local authorities about the education provided to individual children.
4. A duty on local authorities to support home educated families if the families request it.

The Government’s response to the consultation was published in February 2022. It set out the Government’s continued intention to legislate for a register of children not in school, and that the Government would engage further with local authorities and the home educating sector in developing its proposals.

In May 2022, the Government published a Schools Bill which included provisions for a home schooling register. These provisions, and others in the Bill, proved controversial. The wide-ranging Bill was abandoned in December 2022, although the Education Secretary has said legislating for a register remains a priority.

Education is a devolved issue; this briefing covers the position in England only. Read the full report

Source: Cambridgeshire Police published on this website Tuesday 5 December 2023 by Jill Powell

Court News

A sex offender who breached a court order by going to children’s birthday parties has been jailed.

Jason Coe, 48, was given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) in July 2019, which included conditions not to have any contact or communication with girls under 16.

However, Coe attended multiple social gatherings in Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire, where he knew children would be present – the first just four months later on 17 November.

Of the seven breaches, three were children’s birthday parties, the first in Peterborough on 14 March, 2020.

Following this, he attended a barbeque on 10 July, 2021, a birthday party on 31 January this year, another gathering at the end of January or beginning of February, a third child’s party on 24 June and finally another barbeque on 21 July. All were events where he knew children would be present.

After the final event, an adult linked to the gatherings discovered Coe was a registered sex offender and contacted police.

Coe, of Swan Street, Alcester, Warwickshire, admitted seven breaches of his SHPO.

On Thursday (30 November) at Cambridge Crown Court he was jailed for a year.

DC Claire Cummings said: “Coe was fully aware of the requirements of his Sexual Harm Prevention Order and these gatherings would represent breaches. He simply chose to ignore it.

“Court orders are put in place to protect the public and breaches are taken very seriously.

“It is our duty and the responsibly of everyone in society to protect children.”

Anyone who is concerned someone may have been convicted of a sex offence, and could be posing a risk to someone, can apply for disclosure information through Sarah's Law.

Source: Ofsted published on this website Monday 10 July 2023 by Jill Powell

The consultation will provide the sector with the opportunity to share its views on how supported accommodation should be inspected.

The consultation runs from 10 July to 8 September 2023 and will inform Ofsted arrangements for inspections starting in April 2024. Ofsted began accepting applications to register providers of supported accommodation in April 2023, when regulations came into force. Regulation and inspection will provide essential oversight and assess whether children in supported accommodation are safe and well supported.

The consultation is an opportunity for providers, children, care leavers and the wider sector to give their views on proposals relating to inspection outcomes, the notice Ofsted give for inspections and the main features of effective supported accommodation.

Inspection outcomes

For the first round of inspections, Ofsted propose that there should be 3 possible outcomes for inspections of supported accommodation:

Consistently strong service delivery leads to typically positive experiences and progress for children. Where improvements are needed, leaders and managers take timely and effective action.

Inconsistent quality of service delivery adversely affects children’s experiences and limits their progress. Leaders and managers must make improvements.

Serious or widespread weaknesses lead to significant concerns about the experiences and progress of children. Leaders and managers must take urgent action to address failings.

This proposal reflects the unique context and wide scope of the supported accommodation, providing a nuanced statement of quality across extremely diverse provision.

As this is a newly regulated sector that does not yet have an established benchmark for excellence, there is no outcome that identifies exceptional practice.

Ofsted will use the learning from the first round of inspections to inform longer-term inspection arrangements in the future, including how we make judgements.

Notice of inspection

Ofsted propose to give 2 working days’ notice of inspection to providers. This is the minimum notice required to deliver effective and efficient inspections and is consistent with the notice that we give for other ‘provider-level’ social care inspections.

Main features of effective supported accommodation

Ofsted's inspections of supported accommodation providers will lead to outcomes that consider the following areas of evidence:

• overall experiences and progress of children
• how well children are helped and protected
• the effectiveness of leaders and managers

To help shape the final evaluation criteria, Ofsted want to hear views on the main features of effective supported accommodation. These views, in addition to existing research and the views of care-experienced community, will help make sure inspections focus on what makes the most difference to children living in supported accommodation.

Read the consultation proposals and have your say.

If you need an alternative format, please email eyregulatoryandsocialcare@ofsted.gov.uk.