Schedule 1

Part of Children, Schools and Families Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 3:00 pm on 4 February 2010.

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Photo of David Laws David Laws Shadow Secretary of State (Children, Schools and Families) 3:00, 4 February 2010

But surely that argument is the wrong way round. I am pleased that the hon. Lady is saying that she will commission research, and although there will not be time in this Parliament, I hope that there will be plenty of time in future for a meaningful dialogue with home educators. Can it possibly make sense to impose all that architecture—it will be a massive change—without even debating suitability? Even if we did debate suitability, I am not sure whether we would arrive easily at a conclusion about what it means. Suitability of home education in an environment that we are trying to make as flexible as possible is difficult to define.

On registration and ongoing monitoring, we are asking local authorities to do an impossible job. They will do it either in a varied and inconsistent way or they will end up with a sledgehammer that will crack the nut of home education for many people and drive them back to a formalised home education, from which they might be trying to escape in the state sector.