Member

Amendments 227 and 227A, tabled by the noble Lords, Lord Lucas and Lord Frost, seek to clarify which children are eligible for inclusion on the registers. Section 436B does set out which children are eligible. This includes children not on a school roll, including children in receipt of legitimate home education and those in unsuitable education. However, registers will also include children who are on a school roll but receive some or all of their education not in school—the flexi-schooling arrangements that noble Lords have referenced. There are strong arguments for including children in circumstances where they have flexi-schooling arrangements or attend non-school alternative provisions. In these cases, while the school has some oversight of the child’s education, it does not have full oversight: in other words, the child is not necessarily seen in those parts of their education that are not carried out in school. It is important that there is oversight to ensure that the child is receiving an education that is suitable overall. It is right that they be included on local authority children not in school registers.