Clause numbers have changed following committee and the bill is now awaiting report. NEW POST https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/09/22/report-stage-lords-wellbeing-bill/
Uncategorized
130 posts
Children Missing Education guidance (England) was revised in early September 2025. My UPDATED CME PAGE is here https://edyourself.org/children-missing-education/
The government has published its response to the 2024 consultation on new standards for alternative provision. Read my UPDATED PAGE here https://edyourself.org/unregistered-alternative-provision-new-rules/
The Minister gave assurances about follow-up letters in the debate on September 2nd NEW POST HERE https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/09/15/will-write-letters-from-day-9-committee/
Tidied up transcript of my afternoon Q&A Home Ed Zoom Day with links https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/09/07/afternoon-qa-zoom-home-ed-day-september-6th/
Morning Zoom talk from September 6th tidied-up transcript plus links https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/09/07/morning-talk-zoom-home-ed-day-september-6th/
I have 2 x 15 minute slots 9.30 and 4.30 today at a public online event, more details here https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/09/06/all-day-zoom-lets-talk-home-education-september-6th/
Short guide to the bill with links to further pages – NEW POST https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/09/01/wellbeing-bill-quick-guide-for-home-educators/
The Wellbeing Bill currently going through parliament would introduce a consistent identifying number for children. Read more here https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/09/01/unique-identifier-childrens-wellbeing-bill/
NEW post https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/08/31/changes-to-child-benefit-rules-post-16/
My updated Child Benefit page is here https://edyourself.org/child-benefit/ and my updated Universal Credit page is here https://edyourself.org/universal-credit/
On 1.9.25 the Child Benefit rules will change, removing the requirement for education otherwise than at school to have started pre-16 (hence also removing need for EHCP/IDP proof and LA approval) also adding new provision of limited hours as appropriate for illness or disability. My updated page has more details https://edyourself.org/child-benefit/
NEW POST https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/08/07/lost-track-wellbeing-bill/ Where are we up to and is anyone listening, also how does it connect with controversial changes to special educational needs
Predicted shortlist for recess meeting with civil servants, plus ideas for your email https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/07/23/which-lords-meeting-in-august-wellbeing-bill/ NEW POST (update August 2025 this meeting actually took place at the end of July)
Who is likely to be at any meetings during recess + what will they be talking about NEW POST https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/07/11/writing-to-lords-for-august-meetings/ (Update August 2025 this meeting actually took place at the end of July)
I have rewritten my main page on the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill so that all posts and pages about the bill can be found in one place https://edyourself.org/childrens-wellbeing-schools-bill/
2 firm dates plus 3 provisional dates have been added for the Lords Committee scrutinising the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill NEW POST https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/07/11/lords-committee-dates-added-september/
Discussions about the Wellbeing Bill are set to continue behind the scenes during August while parliament is closed. NEW POST about why I think this is not necessarily a bad thing https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/07/10/lords-meeting-dfe-officials-august/
Multi-city events about the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill will take place this coming Sunday July 13th. I am speaking at Wakefield, more details here https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/07/07/wakefield-event-july-13th/
I have written a new post (trying to keep it simple!) about how close the Wellbeing Bill is to becoming law https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/07/06/childrens-wellbeing-bill-how-close-to-law/
I have updated my page on School Attendance Order Statistics with new information about levels of fines via recent successful Ministry of Justice FOI https://edyourself.org/school-attendance-prosecution-statistics/
Government has clearly been thinking how on earth to get through business given the amount of attention required for Children Not In School. NEW POST explains more https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/07/04/what-happened-in-lords-july-3rd-wellbeing-bill/
Discussion of a bill in parliament is by suggesting improvements (amendments) NEW POST – translation of Children Not In School amendments tabled for House of Lords July 3rd https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/07/02/decoding-amendments-clause-30-wellbeing-bill/
Updated page about Lords’ amendments previewing the debate on July 3rd plus analysing interest across political parties https://edyourself.org/lords-amendments-wellbeing-bill/
NEW PAGE answering the main questions I am asked about the Wellbeing Bill in the Lords https://edyourself.org/faq-house-of-lords-wellbeing-bill/
Teacher abused adopted children with family court judge partner failing to intervene NEW POST https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/06/29/family-court-judge-abuse-case/
10 year old Sara Sharif was found dead at the family’s home in Woking, Surrey in August 2023 NEW POST https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/06/29/sara-sharif/
NEW post – Wellbeing Bill what to expect next week in the Lords https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/06/27/july-3rd-and-after/
2ND NEW FAQ PAGE – impact of Wellbeing Bill on children already home educated including with EHCP https://edyourself.org/faq-2-childrens-wellbeing-bill/
NEW PAGE FAQ Will I still be allowed to home educate/ What if my child has an EHCP/ How soon is all this happening? https://edyourself.org/faq-childrens-wellbeing-bill/
The House of Lords will start to scrutinise the Children Not In School clauses of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill on Thursday July 3rd, beginning with clause 30. NEW POST https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/06/24/july-3rd/
Clause 30 is the start of Children Not In School (Wellbeing Bill) My submission to the bill committee on clause 30 has now been fully updated for the Lords https://edyourself.org/bill-committee-evidence-january-2025/. NEW POST https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/06/23/consent-withdrawal-school-certain-categories/
The House of Lords committee appears to be a day’s worth of amendments away from Children Not In School, but just in case the first few amendments to clause 30 are debated on June 23rd, I have made a new page https://edyourself.org/condition-a-cnis-wellbeing-bill/
Lords got up to clause 26 yesterday. NEW POST https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/06/20/lords-up-to-clause-26/ with my reasons for predicting July 3rd Children Not In School
Today the House of Lords is back in Committee for the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill READ MORE HERE https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/06/19/day-6-committee-lords-wellbeing-bill/
The Lords got up to clause 15 of the Wellbeing Bill in committee last night, so it is just possible that scrutiny of clause 30 Local authority consent for withdrawal of certain children from school could start on July 3rd [Day 8]. NEW post here https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/06/18/lords-up-to-clause-15/
Now predicting June 23rd or even July 3rd for scrutiny of Children Not In School Wellbeing Bill Lords Committee, NEW POST https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/06/13/lords-only-up-to-clause-10/
The House of Lords is still only on clause 6 of the Wellbeing Bill after day 3 of Committee, hence June 19th seems earliest likely date for Children Not In School clauses 30-35. My updated bill page is here https://edyourself.org/childrens-wellbeing-schools-bill/
How far peers get with scrutinising the bill today will determine when they reach Children Not In School. New post here https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/06/09/children-not-in-school-debate-in-lords/
Overview main areas of amendments from members of the House of Lords – NEW PAGE https://edyourself.org/lords-amendments-wellbeing-bill/
NEW page: Children’s Wellbeing Bill – what’s happening when https://edyourself.org/childrens-wellbeing-bill-how-to-track/
As a bill goes through parliament, government will realise or be persuaded – that some things are priority for changing. NEW POST https://edyourself.org/changing-a-bill/
Scrutiny of Children Not In School measures no earlier than day 4 of committee June 12th https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/05/09/wellbeing-bill-lords-may-july-2025/
New post: what makes a good LA for home education https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/05/21/what-makes-good-la-for-home-education/
New post – good and bad local authorities for home education https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/05/20/good-and-bad-las-for-home-education/
June 9th added as day 3 of committee in the Lords. Updated blog post here https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/05/09/wellbeing-bill-lords-may-july-2025/
Overview of new and updated pages about Wales https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/05/14/pages-about-wales-on-my-website/
Children Not In School (Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill) not till June. New post here https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/05/09/wellbeing-bill-lords-may-july-2025/
Second reading Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill House of Lords. NEW PAGE https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/05/01/lords-2nd-reading-and-after-may-2025/
The Ministry of Justice has confirmed 800 school attendance order prosecutions in 2023-24 resulting in 546 fines. Read my new page on SAO Prosecution Statistics HERE https://edyourself.org/school-attendance-prosecution-statistics/
My MP has asked the Ministry of Justice for statistics on School Attendance Order prosecutions and fines over the past 10 years. Read the PQ page HERE https://edyourself.org/parliamentary-questions-wellbeing-bill/ (For context, the Department for Education has said “We can predict from Ministry of Justice data that the number of families ultimately subject to a fine for breach of a SAO will be low compared to the overall number of SAOs that are issued.” [LINK])
The Welsh government has made slight changes to its elective home education guidance and also began displaying it as a web page. Read my new page HERE https://edyourself.org/home-education-guidance-wales-2025/
The Children Not In School clauses of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill will now apply to Wales as well as England, read my new page HERE https://edyourself.org/wellbeing-bill-applying-to-wales/
Second Reading in the Lords has been announced for May 1st with 37 peers on the speakers list so far. Read more here https://edyourself.org/childrens-wellbeing-schools-bill/
The Department for Education estimates it will only take 10 minutes a year for parents to report all registration information and updates to the local authority. Read more here https://edyourself.org/parent-registration-information/
By the end of March 18th the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill had been amended in a number of ways. Read my NEW post here https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/03/24/clause-25-is-now-clause-30/
I have updated my Children and Schools Wellbeing Bill page now the Bill has finished in the Commons. MPs are of course still able to submit Written Questions and write to the Minister on behalf of their constituents. https://edyourself.org/childrens-wellbeing-schools-bill/ The Bill now has to go through the House of Lords.
A new impact assessment has just been published on the day of Report for the Wellbeing Bill. NEW PAGE here https://edyourself.org/impact-assessments-wellbeing-bill/
The Children Not In School clauses of the Wellbeing Bill will be debated on Tuesday March 18th in the House of Commons. This NEW post explains what to expect https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/03/16/tuesday-march-18th-report-stage-bill/ –
Part 2 of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill will be debated in the House of Commons next Tuesday 18 March. NEW POST with links to 1 page flier for MPs (including image file and copyable PDF) https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/03/14/amendments-abtisam-mohamed-parliament-march-18/
Some clues about funding for the proposed new law on Children Not In School can be found in a document which has never been published on the main bill page, read more HERE https://edyourself.org/wellbeing-bill-wheres-the-money/
I have written a new post about approaching MPs to ask if they will help you and your family by raising your concerns in parliament over the Wellbeing Bill https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/03/12/wellbeing-bill-amendments-for-report/ There is some urgency as the debate will take place on March 17th and 18th next week
My MP Abtisam Mohamed has tabled a number of amendments for Report regarding “suitable education” and mandatory home visits once in the school attendance order process. NEW PAGE here https://edyourself.org/amendments-for-wellbeing-bill-2/
My MP Abtisam Mohamed has tabled a number of amendments for Report to address the disproportionate impact on lone parents. NEW PAGE here https://edyourself.org/amendments-for-report-1/
Report has been confirmed for March 17th and 18th, see https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3909/stages/19544 The last day for tabling amendments within the notice period for selection is MONDAY MARCH 10TH. MPs wishing to speak at Report don’t have to put their names on a list. Read more here https://edyourself.org/childrens-wellbeing-schools-bill/
It has been provisionally announced that report stage of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill will take place on Monday 17th and Tuesday 18th March [LINK]
My MP has tabled a number of parliamentary questions about the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill – NEW PAGE read more here https://edyourself.org/parliamentary-questions-wellbeing-bill/
The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill has been reissued after committee, with adjustments to clause and page numbering. Read more here https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/02/12/clause-24-is-now-25/ The updated version of the children not in school clauses can be viewed onscreen here without needing to download https://shorturl.at/eJleP
My written evidence never appeared on the committee website so I secured permission to publish it here https://edyourself.org/bill-committee-evidence-january-2025/
I have updated my page on the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to reflect the fact that it is finishing in committee and will shortly be considered at Report by all MPs in the House of Commons before going to the House of Lords https://edyourself.org/childrens-wellbeing-schools-bill/
NEW blog post explores when we might expect Report stage https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/02/09/report-stage-childrens-wellbeing-and-schools-bill/
The bill committee has finished with the home education clauses, so the focus now moves to report stage, NEW blog post here https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/02/01/90-minutes-home-education-30-1-25/
New blog post overview of the children not in school proposals set out in the Wellbeing Bill https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/01/25/overview-children-not-in-school-wellbeing-bill/
I have published a new blog post explaining why the children not in school proposals are likely to be scrutinised on Thursday January 30th (or possibly the following Tuesday) and hence why there is still time to send written evidence https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/01/24/children-not-in-school-bill-committee-dates/
Interested parties can send written evidence to the bill committee, but time is short, read my new blog post here https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/01/14/evidence-childrens-wellbeing-bill-committee/
NEW blog post about the public bill committee which will start meeting shortly to go through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/01/09/bill-committee-childrens-wellbeing-and-schools/
NEW blog post about second reading of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill taking place tomorrow Wednesday January 8th https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/01/07/second-reading-childrens-wellbeing-schools-bill/
What to expect as the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill makes its way through parliament https://edyourself.org/childrens-wellbeing-schools-bill/ + view the bill onscreen here without having to download a PDF https://shorturl.at/eJleP
I have added a link to my Pilot Areas Children’s Database Wales page containing further information about opting out including template letters. Read more here https://edyourself.org/pilot-areas-wales-cme-database/
I have updated my post-16 Universal Credit page to add information about issues with local authority letters plus DWP clarification re UC accepting Child Benefit as proof https://edyourself.org/universal-credit/
I have created 2 new pages to provide further information on database proposals for Wales https://edyourself.org/pilot-areas-wales-cme-database/ (updated 16.10.24) + https://edyourself.org/children-missing-education-wales/
On September 11th 2024 the Minister confirmed that “database arrangements will be piloted across a small number of local authorities for the first year”. My consultation page has now been updated, read more here https://edyourself.org/wales-cme-database-consultation/
On September 5th 2024 Lord Storey’s Home School Education Registration and Support Bill [LINK] had its first reading – without debate – in the House of Lords. The bill was 13th in the private members bill ballot [LINK] which means that second reading – with debate – will not be for a few months. This bill is unconnected with the government’s Children’s Wellbeing Bill [LINK] mentioned in the Kings Speech which has not been published yet. More about private members bills here
In Wales, statements of special educational needs are being replaced by Individual Development Plans which are different from statements (or EHCPs as in England) Read more here https://edyourself.org/wales-home-educating-with-special-needs/
Two new sets of regulations related to pupils in and out of school came into force yesterday. This was flagged up in a news post from March 2024. The 2006 Pupil Registration Regulations (covering deregistration) no longer apply, and in addition, there are new requirements for reporting absence more promptly to the LA. Read more here https://edyourself.org/pupil-registration-regulations-2024/ and here https://edyourself.org/technical-changes-cme-guidance-2024/
The Kings Speech on July 17th 2024 included proposals for a Children Not In School Register as part of the Children’s Wellbeing Bill. Read more here https://edyourself.org/registration-in-kings-speech-july-2024/
Shortly before the general election was announced, the Department for Education launched a consultation on the use of alternative provision under section 19 plus EOTAS with EHCPs. It closes on July 5th. Read my consultation response here https://edyourself.org/alternative-provision-consultation-response-2024/ LINK TO CONSULTATION HERE https://consult.education.gov.uk/behaviour-attendance-exclusions-and-alternative-provision/strengthening-protections-in-unregistered-ap/
The Welsh government’s plans for a children missing education database rely on doctors to share patient information. The General Medical Council [GMC] does not seem convinced, read more here https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2024/05/23/gmc-response-wales-cme-database-consultation/
The Department for Education is proposing new national standards and time limits for pupils in alternative provision. There will also be new rules for children unable to attend school and for those receiving EOTAS (part-time or full-time) via an EHCP. I explain more here https://edyourself.org/unregistered-alternative-provision-new-rules/ CONSULTATION CLOSES 5.7.24
I have just submitted my response for the Wales CME database consultation which closes this Thursday April 25th. The link for the consultation is here https://www.gov.wales/node/59753/respond-online and I have posted a copy of my response here https://edyourself.org/consultation-response-cme-database-wales/
I am sharing my draft CME database consultation (Wales) response here https://edyourself.org/consultation-response-cme-database-wales/ I am not based in Wales but the education law Wales is relying on applies to both England and Wales
Here is a one page summary and introduction to the pages on this website about the Wales Children’s Database https://edyourself.org/guide-to-wales-cme-database/ The database consultation closes on April 25th. The Welsh government has still not uploaded a child-friendly version of the consultation
The Welsh government wants GPs to hand over the name, address, date of birth and gender of nearly half a million children. Read more https://edyourself.org/gp-data-half-a-million-children-wales/ + https://edyourself.org/why-include-gps-in-wales-database/ Reminder that the database consultation closes on April 25th
The Welsh government plans to pilot the children’s database in a small number of councils where it will only apply to a few children initially but once section 29 is brought into force, any future government will be free to expand the database as much as it wants. Read more here https://edyourself.org/childrens-database-wales-law-but-not-law/
On Friday March 15th 2024 MP Flick Drummond’s home education bill had its Second Reading in the House of Commons. Read more here about what this means https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2024/03/16/flick-drummond-home-education-bill/
The Wales database proposals will have significant impact on home educating families who are already known to the LA. This may or may not have been intended. Read more here https://edyourself.org/wales-database-impact-children-already-known/
See also 1/ https://edyourself.org/wales-cme-database-consultation/ + 2/ https://edyourself.org/legal-powers-for-childrens-database-wales/ + 3/ https://edyourself.org/details-childrens-database-wales/ + 4/ https://edyourself.org/2024-wales-database-compared-with-2020/ + 5/ https://edyourself.org/data-sharing-childrens-database-wales/