FrontPage KCC Plans Responses to KCC Responses from KCC Action Group Activity From Government Individual Letters to KCC Letters to MPs

There is plenty of work to do to help stop KCC from introducing a registration and monitoring scheme. In the first instance, please read up on the 2007 Elective Home Education Guidelines for Local Authorities. This is the document that sets out what exactly are KCC's duties and what is not. It states quite categorically that the LA has no duty to register or monitor home education.

You can also read the Proposal Changes and watch the webcast of the Policy Overview and Scrutiny Committee. It makes for stomach churning listening. Below are the email addresses of all the council members present and contributing to the discussion, should you wish to make your feelings known to them. See what others have been writing here.

leyland.ridings@kent.gov.uk, gary.cooke@kent.gov.uk, michael.jarvis@kent.gov.uk, mike.whiting@kent.gov.uk, alex.gamby@kent.gov.uk, kit.smith@kent.gov.uk, jim.wedgbury@kent.gov.uk, leslie.christie@kent.gov.uk, patrick.leeson@kent.gov.uk

Also, please do write to your MP, local councillors and, of course, Patrick Leeson. We are asking for 2 things:

1 - for KCC to adhere to the existing legal framework.

2 - for KCC to undertake a full public consultation with home educators in order to formulate policy together.

A copy of the group letter to Patrick Leeson can be found here.

Other points you might want to cover:

we welcome the fact that KCC are reviewing their HE policy, as it no longer reflects the 2007 EHE Guidelines for Local Authorities. There has been no change to the law so that document is still current.

the lack of consultation with us as the main stakeholders - they have a duty in law to consult with the local community when drafting policy changes. (specifically section 138 of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007).
the local authority does not have a duty to ensure that home education provision is suitable, that is the duty of the parents (section 7 of the 1996 Education Act). Given that the proposals hinge around this one misconception, all proposals need to be reviewed in context of the legal obligations of the Local Authority.
the local authority does not have a duty to ensure the wellbeing and safeguarding of all children - again the remit of parents not the state, but does have a duty to promote it in the services that they do provide.
why is the local authority seeking to spend money on exercising powers they do not have, whilst at the same time cutting education budgets and making redundancies.

We wish to foster a positive relationship with the LA, but cannot do so until KCC adheres to the law when dealing with home educators, offering support for those who ask for it, but also respecting the rights of those parents and families who wish to be left alone to concentrate on fulfilling their legal duty to ensure a suitable education for their children.

If you would like to join the action group, then please email us.

What You Can Do