Heading for a confrontation

The more militant home educating parents in this country have constructed for themselves a mythos regarding the legal situation which surrounds home education. They have been supported in this by one lawyer, whose own child was educated at home. The problem is that it is becoming increasingly apparent that other lawyers do not agree with the interpretation which has become accepted by home educators. Let us take the case of monitoring home education.

The standard view among members of some home education groups is that the local authority should not trouble home educating families of whom they become aware, unless they have evidence that a suitable education is not being provided. They further believe that the local authority has no justification for returning every year or two for updates on the educational provision. This view is based partly upon the advice to local authorities contained in the 2007 guidelines. This particular point of view has become ossified and is now taken as fact by many less informed parents. They are founding their belief in general, not upon examining the law for themselves but by reading what people post on internet lists and forums. This is a mistake. If I wished to know where I stand with any legal problem, I would not rely upon what people were saying on the internet; I would consult a solicitor.

The consequences of this part of home educating mythology may be seen regularly on the lists and forums. I gave an example a couple of days ago of a woman who is indignant that her local authority has asked her to fill in a form. The impression that many of these parents now have is that they can adopt an intransigent attitude to their local authorities about requests for information and that the law supports them in this. Unfortunately, or fortunately for those of us who have the welfare of children at heart, both the majority of local authorities and also the Department for Education have quite a different opinion on the legal situation. Since they all have lawyers at their disposal, especially the Department for Education, it is starting to look as though Ian Dowty's interpretation of the law might be a minority view. What is the current position of the Department for Education about local authorities asking folk to fill out forms and answer questions? It is this:

' The current position is that local authorities have no statutory powers to monitor home education on a routine basis. However, they are required to make arrangements to establish (so far as it is possible to do so) the identities of children who are not pupils at school and who are not otherwise receiving suitable education. In order to
comply with this duty, local authorities need to make arrangements which will,
as far as possible, enable them to determine whether any children who are not
pupils at schools, such as those being educated at home, are receiving a
suitable education. In order to do this, local authorities should make
inquiries with parents educating children at home about the educational
provision being made for them.'

Note well, local authorities 'should make enquiries with parents educating their children at home about the educational provision made for them'. The use of the word 'should' suggests that local authorities are thought to have a duty to make such enquiries.


After all the fuss since Badman about home education, the Department for Education are very unlikely to be saying things like this without having taken extensive legal advice. This presents home educating parents with a bit of a problem. I have noticed in recent months a hardening of the position of some parents. They have been encouraged by Ian Dowty' interpretation of the law, as well as the views of the various barrack-room lawyers and malcontents who hang out on some forums. This is leading some parents to believe that they can ignore their local authority and take the position that unless the authority has good reason to believe that a suitable education is not being provided, then they should not concern themselves with home educated children. This is causing parents to receive advice such as that a questionnaire sent by the local authority should not be filled in.

All this is leading inexorably to a confrontation between some home educating parents and their local authorities. The authorities feel that the law is on their side. Their opinion is based upon advice which they have received from their own legal advisors and also from the Department for Education. Some parents are determined to be uncooperative. Their view of the legal situation is based upon stuff they have read on the internet, mainly by people who are not lawyers. It is fairly clear to me that if I got into a fight with my local authority about anything at all and I was basing by position solely upon things that I had read in internet chat-rooms, then I would probably be heading for a fall. If I were going to go head to head with my local authority, the very least I should do is see a solicitor to see if my interpretation of the law is the correct one or whether the local authority have a stronger case. I rather think that we are going to see a few court cases in the near future about this. There is currently one pending in Birmingham and there are others in the pipeline. This should prove interesting.