Update December 2024 – the new Labour government introduced the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill which mirrored some provisions from the previous government’s Schools Bill, read more here https://edyourself.org/childrens-wellbeing-schools-bill/
In December 2022 the Department for Education confirmed that the Schools Bill was not going ahead. Meanwhile the government already had a backup plan for establishing home education numbers that did not involve compulsory registration. In Autumn 2022 it began to ask local authorities for “termly aggregate data returns on EHE children and CME on a voluntary basis.” Read more here
The Schools Bill first appeared in May 2022. Parts 1 and 2 put forward sweeping and controversial changes to the way schools in England were to be run. Part 3 of the Bill contained proposals for the compulsory registration of children not in school – which the government called the CNIS Register. Part 4 proposed measures for bringing a greater number of independent institutions within scope of regulation as many currently do not have to register, read my page here https://edyourself.org/unregistered-schools/
2022 Registration Proposals
Parents would have had to register with the local authority if their children were not registered at a school.
If parents failed to register, the government wanted to use a stricter school attendance order process whereby parents would automatically receive a preliminary notice. Read my page on School Attendance Orders here
The law on school attendance orders would have been changed. The current section 437 – 443 of the Education Act 1996 (for England) would have been replaced (for England) by new subsections 436B – 436Q directly after s.436A Children Missing Education.
As part of the new law there was also to be new statutory guidance for local authorities.
The Schools Bill proposals were about registration and NOT about monitoring. Registration was coupled with monitoring in a 2018 call for evidence but in April 2019 the government changed tack The pre-2019 monitoring proposals DID NOT APPEAR in the Schools Bill.
Government amendments to Part 3 in July 2022 were a big improvement on the original Bill. A great deal more detail was put on the face of the Bill making it more transparent and less able to be changed later.
Private Members Bill Attempts Revive Schools Bill [20.7.23]
Schools Bill dropped [13.12.22]
Parents Duties after the Bill was amended in the Lords. [3.8.22]
Means by which child is educated plus plans for forum and new guidance. [20.7.22]
Big day in Lords when amendments were passed 18.7.22
What the heck happened in Lords last night 13.7.22
Amendments to register will make it less bad 11.7.22
First details of amendments to register 7.7.22
Finishing in Lords and going to Commons 30.6.22
Further discussion registration in Lords committee 25.6.22
Registration discussed in Lords committee/ 22.6.22
How do amendments work? 9.6.22
Early discussion registration in Lords 2.6.22
Registration concerns raised in Lords 23.5.22
New system proposed for school attendance orders 19.5.22
First post about the register 18.5.22