Gillian Keegan: DfE ‘committed’ to creating elective home education register
Fiona Simpson
Wednesday, December 7, 2022
The Department for Education is “definitely committed” to legislating on an elective home education (EHE) register for children missing from schools, the Education Secretary has said.
Gillian Keegan was asked for a “commitment” to the register, plans for which were initially confirmed by DfE in February, by Flick Drummond, MP for Meon Valley, at a meeting of the education select committee on Wednesday (7 December).
Keegan, who was appointed as Education Secretary in October, said: “We do definitely remain committed to legislating for children not on the school register and we will continue to work until we know that they are all receiving a safe and secure education.”
However, she added: “I can’t commit to a date or a time because there is a process you have to go through, and I don’t have full control over that, but it is as much of a commitment and a priority to me as it is to the committee.”
Keegan told the committee that DfE is “continuing to support local authorities with their non-statutory registers for children not in schools”.
“We have published new guidance for schools on supporting children with regular attendance issues.
"We are focussed on that every day because we do know there’s been an impact on attendance for some children who have not returned to school post-pandemic,” she added.
Keegan’s commitment comes days after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s response to a question submitted by Drummond raised questions over the progress of the EHE register.
The committee also heard that the Schools Bill, based on the schools white paper which was published in March, “will not progress in the third session”.
Keegan told cross-party MPs: “We do remain committed to the very many important objectives of the bill, and we will be prioritising some aspects of the bill as well to see what we can do.
“A lot of the schools white paper is being implemented, and doesn't need legislation.”
The committee also heard that the government is expected to respond to both the SEND review and Independent Review of Children’s Social Care before March, but Keegan said "we are aiming to do it earlier than that".
