Home School Education Registration and Support Bill [HL]

This Lords running list shows amendments to Clause 1 of the Home School Education Registration and Support Bill [HL] proposing exemptions from registration where parents can show credible evidence of suitable education—via an experienced educator’s sworn affidavit, three externally assessed qualifications (e.g., GCSEs or A-Levels), or enrolment with a recognised online/flexible provider. It also introduces a default presumption that parents are capable of providing suitable education and protects privacy by stating that a home visit refusal should not be treated as evidence of unsuitability, with Lord Wei indicating he will oppose Clause 1 stand part and raise questions about the register’s necessity and compatibility with human rights law.

Baroness Smith explains the government’s ongoing work to support Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) children, including the role of the GRT stakeholder group in improving education and out-of-school learning. It notes that the Open Doors Education and Training distance-learning scheme was funded in 2021/22 (£1.4 million) and reached hundreds of pupils, but there are no plans for a new funding partnership; Oak National Academy will continue to provide free digital curriculum resources for home-educated children, including those in the GRT community. The letter also indicates a future duty on local authorities to support home-educated children under the forthcoming Children’s Wellbeing Bill as part of the Children Not in School proposals.

This is the Lords’ running list of all amendments proposed to the Home School Education Registration and Support Bill [HL] during Committee of the Whole House, tabled up to 15 November 2024. It records amendments, including one by Lord Lucas to Clause 1 to remove lines 14–20; amendments marked with a ★ are new or altered.

This report examines the Private Members’ Home School Education Registration and Support Bill [HL], which would require English local authorities to maintain a register of children educated otherwise than at school and to collect and share information with the Secretary of State, largely mirroring earlier Schools Bill provisions. The Committee flags five delegated powers in the Bill that use the first-time affirmative procedure and says this level of scrutiny is not appropriate for three of them (notably on registration scope and monetary penalties), urging the sponsor to justify the first‑time affirmative approach and recommending that the affirmative procedure apply to all exercises of those powers; it notes there is nothing to draw to the House’s attention about the Great British Energy Bill.

The Home School Education Registration and Support Bill would require English local authorities to create and maintain registers of children not registered at a relevant school or educated outside it, detailing what information must be kept and how it can be used. It would place duties on parents and on providers of out-of-school education to supply information to authorities, with penalties for non-compliance and a framework for warnings, appeals to the First-tier Tribunal, and enforcement. It also allows local authorities to offer or secure support to promote the child’s education and safeguarding, and enables the Secretary of State to make regulations; the bill extends to England and Wales.