During the passage of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill through parliament the Department for Education did not give a lot of detail about money for the Children Not In School measures. The bill received royal assent at the end of April 2026 and is now an Act of Parliament.
This money document is called the Children Not In School Registers Regulatory Impact Assessment and appears HERE https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/childrens-wellbeing-and-schools-bill-impact-assessments
The theme throughout is that parents will scarcely be affected and that local authorities will actually end up saving money (as opposed to needing extra money)
The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 says that in future local authorities [LAs] MUST keep registers of children who are not in school, and MAY use the school attendance order process for parents who refuse home visits or who fail to provide information for the register.
If the School Attendance Order process continues, the authority will have to find a school place for every single child in the SAO process, so they can tell the parent which school will be named on the order.
To enforce the attendance order the authority would have to complete the paperwork for prosecution and defend the case if parents pleaded Not Guilty.