A Labour government would legislate for a compulsory national register of home-schooled children as part of a package of measures designed to tackle the problem of persistent absence in schools in England.
The proposed legislation would place a legal duty on councils to keep a register of all children who are not in school, and on parents to provide information about their child’s education at home.
Labour would also use artificial intelligence to identify absence trends by “joining up existing records for children and improving coordination between education, social care and the wider services that support families”.
There are further plans to empower the schools inspectorate, Ofsted, to review absence as part of annual safeguarding spot-checks, as well as the introduction of evidence-based early language interventions, increased mental health support and universal free breakfast clubs to help increase attendance.
Tackling historically high levels of absence since the disruption of the pandemic has become a priority issue for political leaders in what will almost certainly be a general election year, with more than a fifth (21.2%) of pupils in England “persistently absent” – missing 10% or more school sessions – across the autumn and spring terms 2022-23.
The shadow education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, is expected to set out her plans in a speech on Tuesday, the day after the Conservatives announced their plans to tackle persistent absence, which include a further 18 school “attendance hubs” run by schools with strong attendance records who share their expertise, and a national campaign stressing the importance of attendance.
Labour backed earlier government plans for a compulsory national register of home-schooled children in the 2022 schools bill, but it slipped down the agenda when the legislation was scrapped. Gillian Keegan, the education secretary, has since said a register remains a priority for government, but there is no way to carry it forward.
