Clause 4 - Duty to identify children not receiving education
Education and Inspections Bill
2:30 pm
Anne Snelgrove (PPS (Lord Warner, Minister of State), Department of Health; South Swindon, Labour)
I do wish to reassure the hon. Gentleman. I beg his pardon if I misunderstood him. I have looked at the amendments and the section quite closely, because it places a new and welcome duty on local education authorities. The regulatory impact assessment suggests a figure of 10,000 children falling into the category, but it is a difficult assessment to make. Perhaps the hon. Gentleman will correct me if I am wrong, but the amendment would seem to turn the clause about-face. I interpret it as giving the LEA a duty to consider the 8 million children who are currently registered, rather than 10,000.