Thank you for all your donations, the target amount has been reached. No further donations needed. Thank you again for your support.
Educational Freedom, are aiming to raise £2400 to instruct Steve Broach, discrimination and human rights specialist barrister, to give his legal opinion on the process and content of the Draft School attendance (Pupil Registration) ( England) Regulations 2023, these new rules will make it impossible for any child with an EHCP/ CIN/ CP Plan to be removed from school rolls without LA consent.
De-registration on demand is an important protection and fundamental right for children who may be struggling to cope with the demands of school due to not having their needs met or fully identified, we believe the proposals are discriminatory and breach human rights.
Once implemented the proposals could also open the door to requiring consent for all school roll removals, as it alters the current legal position where parents have direct control over deregistration of their children under current pupil regulations.
******************************************************************************
The Department for Education has published draft plans that aim to change pupil registration regulations. If enacted, it will come into force from September 2023. Once put into motion it will become law unless objected to by MPs or peers within 40 days.
Under the proposals
• Parents would no longer be able to remove a child from school roll if they have an EHCP/ CIN/ CP Plan without consent from the Local Authority. This will disproportionately affect children experiencing difficulties attending school & children with SEND, causing delays that will result in children suffering and, in some cases, could cause child fatalities.
• If a Local Authority refuses consent to remove a child from school roll the decision can only be overturned by the Secretary of State.
• Amendments to attendance regulations stigmatise children experiencing school attendance barriers and those with reoccurring health conditions by requiring a sickness return be made to the local authority only the first time a child is ill for a significant period with a given condition.
• Children who are absent for 20 days or more can be legally off-rolled even if their whereabouts are known.
• Data collection criteria would include the child's name, sex, and name the child uses at school. This information identifies the child's chosen gender, adopted children, families who have relocated due to domestic violence. We are acutely aware that Councils are susceptible to data breaches, sensitive information if leaked will have serious ramifications for vulnerable families.
We believe the Statutory Instrument to be unlawful and want to seek a legal opinion from specialist barrister Steve Broach on the matter, who will advise on the lawfulness of the draft SI considering both procedural issues such as consultation and the substance of the regulations themselves. This may prevent the draft proposals being brought forward, or help bolster lobbying of MPs if the DfE try to follow through with the changes anyway.
If you are able to help raise funds for the legal opinion, please follow the link below to the Crowdfunder, donations will go directly to pay the fee of £2000 plus VAT & fees quoted by Steve Broach we estimate the total cost at £2400. Otherwise, please share this campaign and raise awareness in your local home education community, local SEND community and with any professionals in the field you have contact with.
We will be making regular updates and publishing a full account of the money raised. As we are not legal experts ourselves and Steve Broach is not associated with the crowdfunder we cannot guarantee our interpretation of the draft SI is complete and correct, however it is due to the concerns listed above that we wish to seek his opinion.
Preventing de-registration of one group will put children in danger, and open the door to expansion in future to other groups.