, Cabinet Secretary for
Education: In January 2024 my predecessor made a statement
announcing the publication of the Consultation on the ‘Children
Act 2004 Children Missing Education Database (Wales)
Regulations'. Today I am providing an update to Members on the
outcome of that consultation, and on the proposed next
steps.
Every child has a fundamental right to an education, regardless
of where or how that is delivered. Children not receiving an
education are unable to meet their potential, and are at
increased risk of a range of negative outcomes that could have
long-term damaging consequences for their life chances. Local
authorities have a statutory duty to make arrangements to
identify children living in their areas who are not pupils at
school and not in receipt of a suitable education, and additional
duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of all children.
However, as there is no requirement on parents to inform their
local authority if their child is not registered at a school
within the area, local authorities may not be able to meet their
duties in relation to all children they have responsibility
for.
The consultation
provided stakeholders and members of the public with an
opportunity to have their say on the ‘Children Act 2004 Children
Missing Education Database (Wales) Regulations'. The regulations
place a requirement on local authorities to establish databases
of children who may be missing education, and on local health
boards to share basic, non-clinical information with local
authorities to help them identify children. These new powers will
enable local authorities to compile a reasonably complete
database of children who are either not on any education
register, or not known to be in receipt of a suitable education,
to assist them in identifying children who may be missing
education. Only information relating to children who have been
identified by the local authority as potentially missing
education, will be held on the database.
I am mindful that discussions about these policy proposals have
been ongoing for some time and have been subject to extensive
consultation and development. This is a second consultation in
relation to local authority education databases. The first, held
in 2020, resulted in significant revisions to the initial
proposals to address concerns raised by some stakeholders, and
home educating parents and carers in relation to proportionality
and scope.
I would like to be clear that these proposals are not about
elective home education; the regulations are aligned with the
‘children missing education' statutory guidance and aim to
provide a mechanism for local authorities to identify children
who are missing education. I fully acknowledge the decision of
some parents to home educate if it is in the best interests of
the child, but balanced against this is the need to ensure local
authorities have the necessary information to be able to
undertake their duties. These duties apply to all children,
regardless of how or where they are educated. As set out within
the statutory guidance, children missing education are children
who are not in receipt of a suitable education at school or
otherwise. This may include children who are not known to the
local authority.
It has taken time to consider all responses received from this
consultation in full, and to determine what, if any, revisions
should be made to the children missing education policy
proposals. In total, 359 responses were received via both the
online consultation and the separate consultation engagement
exercises. I was pleased to see that responses were received from
a wide range of organisations, sectors and individuals, including
from children and young people. This ensured that different
viewpoints were considered, across a range of different
aspects.
The consultation responses indicated that opinions on these
proposals remain divided, with the majority of individuals and
home educators who responded strongly opposed to the introduction
of any legislation. However, the majority of local authorities
and those organisations with responsibility for children and
children's rights were of the opinion that regulations are
necessary to identify children who may be missing education. An
independent analysis was undertaken by OB3 and this draws out
some of the key messages from different stakeholders.
After careful consideration of all responses, I have agreed to
progress plans to implement the Children Act 2004 Children
Missing Education Database (Wales) Regulations, and the Education
(Information about Children in Independent Schools) (Wales)
Regulations.
To determine the effectiveness of the regulations in identifying
children who may be missing education, and to identify any
practical difficulties that may need to be addressed, I have
agreed that the database arrangements will be piloted across a
small number of local authorities for the first year. The pilot
will undergo a full evaluation, with any required changes made
ahead of the proposed wider roll-out across Wales.
A high level analysis of the consultation responses is available
on the Welsh Government website: Children missing education
database | GOV.WALES
This statement is being issued during recess in order to keep
members informed. Should members wish me to make a further
statement or to answer questions on this when the Senedd returns
I would be happy to do so.
