Asked by: Lord Warner (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Nash on 18 September (HL1354, HL1355, HL1356 and HL1357), whether they will consider collecting data on unregistered schools; what assessment they have made of Ofsted's estimate that 6,000 children are being educated in such schools; and why no prosecutions have been made of those found by Ofsted to be operating such schools when it is a criminal offence to do so.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
Data on unregistered schools would be for Ofsted to collect, as it has the powers to investigate the criminal offence of operating an unregistered independent school. However, as Lord Nash explained in his previous answer, Ofsted will publish its next annual report later this year, which we understand will contain their latest data.
It is important to distinguish between unregulated settings and unregistered schools. It is a criminal offence to operate an unregistered independent school (that is to say, full-time independent schools which meet the criteria to register but have not done so). Unregulated settings that are not schools, such as part time settings for example, are not unregistered schools. We do not believe that the number of children being educated in unregistered schools is as high as may previously have been thought. Ofsted did not include in last year’s report a figure for the number of children in the unregistered schools that they had discovered.
Of the cases that Ofsted has investigated, nearly all have ceased to operate unlawfully. Ofsted are continuing to investigate a small number of cases that have not yet complied and we are continuing to work closely with Ofsted on these cases.
Asked by: Lord Warner (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they regard children attending unregistered schools to be children at risk and therefore subject to assessment under local authority child protection procedures.
Answered by Lord Nash
National statistics on the number of children being taught at unregistered schools are not held centrally. However, we are working closely with Ofsted and local authorities to tackle this sector.
We have provided Ofsted with additional resources to root out and inspect those suspected of operating unlawfully and take action to bring them into compliance with the law. We have also been supporting local authorities to use their existing powers under safeguarding or health and safety legislation to disrupt and tackle both unsuitable out-of-school settings and unregistered independent schools.
Although we don’t track closures of unregistered schools, Ofsted’s Annual Report 2015/16: education, early years and skills, published on 1 December 2016, noted that from January 2016 to end August 2016 (the end of the period covered by the report), Ofsted inspected 38 such settings; Ofsted issued 19 warning notices telling proprietors to cease operating illegally; and 15 of those providers ceased to operate illegally following those inspections. Ofsted will publish its next annual report later this year.
The annual report can be accessed on gov.uk at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/574186/Ofsted_annual_report_education_and_skills_201516_web-ready.pdf.
It is a criminal offence for any person to operate an unregistered independent school and Ofsted has powers to inspect such settings. Anyone who is found to be conducting an independent school without registration is breaking the law and may be liable to prosecution. However, in most cases, collaborative working between Ofsted and local authorities has resulted in such settings voluntarily ceasing to operate unlawfully, which is verified by the figures highlighted in the Ofsted report referred to above.
As part of our ongoing work with Ofsted and local authorities we have been raising awareness on how we can all work together to help ensure that children are safe and are receiving a suitable education. We keep this under constant review.
The legislative framework for the child protection system in England is provided largely by the Children Act 1989 and the Children Act 2004. This sets out the overarching responsibility of local authorities for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children in their area, regardless of where they are educated. It is for local authorities to assess whether the threshold for intervention is met in the case of an individual child taking account of the impact and influence of environmental factors, such as attending an unregistered school. However, wherever local authorities have reasonable cause to suspect that a child is suffering, or likely to suffer, significant harm, they are under a duty to investigate. Local authorities should make whatever enquiries necessary to decide what, if any, action to take to safeguard or promote the child’s welfare.
Asked by: Lord Warner (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what powers, (1) Ofsted, (2) local authorities, and (3) the Secretary of State, have to close unregistered schools; what representations they have received about the adequacy of such powers; and whether they have any plans to strengthen those powers.
Answered by Lord Nash
National statistics on the number of children being taught at unregistered schools are not held centrally. However, we are working closely with Ofsted and local authorities to tackle this sector.
We have provided Ofsted with additional resources to root out and inspect those suspected of operating unlawfully and take action to bring them into compliance with the law. We have also been supporting local authorities to use their existing powers under safeguarding or health and safety legislation to disrupt and tackle both unsuitable out-of-school settings and unregistered independent schools.
Although we don’t track closures of unregistered schools, Ofsted’s Annual Report 2015/16: education, early years and skills, published on 1 December 2016, noted that from January 2016 to end August 2016 (the end of the period covered by the report), Ofsted inspected 38 such settings; Ofsted issued 19 warning notices telling proprietors to cease operating illegally; and 15 of those providers ceased to operate illegally following those inspections. Ofsted will publish its next annual report later this year.
The annual report can be accessed on gov.uk at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/574186/Ofsted_annual_report_education_and_skills_201516_web-ready.pdf.
It is a criminal offence for any person to operate an unregistered independent school and Ofsted has powers to inspect such settings. Anyone who is found to be conducting an independent school without registration is breaking the law and may be liable to prosecution. However, in most cases, collaborative working between Ofsted and local authorities has resulted in such settings voluntarily ceasing to operate unlawfully, which is verified by the figures highlighted in the Ofsted report referred to above.
As part of our ongoing work with Ofsted and local authorities we have been raising awareness on how we can all work together to help ensure that children are safe and are receiving a suitable education. We keep this under constant review.
The legislative framework for the child protection system in England is provided largely by the Children Act 1989 and the Children Act 2004. This sets out the overarching responsibility of local authorities for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children in their area, regardless of where they are educated. It is for local authorities to assess whether the threshold for intervention is met in the case of an individual child taking account of the impact and influence of environmental factors, such as attending an unregistered school. However, wherever local authorities have reasonable cause to suspect that a child is suffering, or likely to suffer, significant harm, they are under a duty to investigate. Local authorities should make whatever enquiries necessary to decide what, if any, action to take to safeguard or promote the child’s welfare.
Asked by: Lord Warner (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many unregistered schools have been closed in each of the last three years for which records are available.
Answered by Lord Nash
National statistics on the number of children being taught at unregistered schools are not held centrally. However, we are working closely with Ofsted and local authorities to tackle this sector.
We have provided Ofsted with additional resources to root out and inspect those suspected of operating unlawfully and take action to bring them into compliance with the law. We have also been supporting local authorities to use their existing powers under safeguarding or health and safety legislation to disrupt and tackle both unsuitable out-of-school settings and unregistered independent schools.
Although we don’t track closures of unregistered schools, Ofsted’s Annual Report 2015/16: education, early years and skills, published on 1 December 2016, noted that from January 2016 to end August 2016 (the end of the period covered by the report), Ofsted inspected 38 such settings; Ofsted issued 19 warning notices telling proprietors to cease operating illegally; and 15 of those providers ceased to operate illegally following those inspections. Ofsted will publish its next annual report later this year.
The annual report can be accessed on gov.uk at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/574186/Ofsted_annual_report_education_and_skills_201516_web-ready.pdf.
It is a criminal offence for any person to operate an unregistered independent school and Ofsted has powers to inspect such settings. Anyone who is found to be conducting an independent school without registration is breaking the law and may be liable to prosecution. However, in most cases, collaborative working between Ofsted and local authorities has resulted in such settings voluntarily ceasing to operate unlawfully, which is verified by the figures highlighted in the Ofsted report referred to above.
As part of our ongoing work with Ofsted and local authorities we have been raising awareness on how we can all work together to help ensure that children are safe and are receiving a suitable education. We keep this under constant review.
The legislative framework for the child protection system in England is provided largely by the Children Act 1989 and the Children Act 2004. This sets out the overarching responsibility of local authorities for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children in their area, regardless of where they are educated. It is for local authorities to assess whether the threshold for intervention is met in the case of an individual child taking account of the impact and influence of environmental factors, such as attending an unregistered school. However, wherever local authorities have reasonable cause to suspect that a child is suffering, or likely to suffer, significant harm, they are under a duty to investigate. Local authorities should make whatever enquiries necessary to decide what, if any, action to take to safeguard or promote the child’s welfare.
Asked by: Lord Warner (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of children being taught at unregistered schools; and what information and directions they have given to (1) local authorities, and (2) Ofsted, on this issue.
Answered by Lord Nash
National statistics on the number of children being taught at unregistered schools are not held centrally. However, we are working closely with Ofsted and local authorities to tackle this sector.
We have provided Ofsted with additional resources to root out and inspect those suspected of operating unlawfully and take action to bring them into compliance with the law. We have also been supporting local authorities to use their existing powers under safeguarding or health and safety legislation to disrupt and tackle both unsuitable out-of-school settings and unregistered independent schools.
Although we don’t track closures of unregistered schools, Ofsted’s Annual Report 2015/16: education, early years and skills, published on 1 December 2016, noted that from January 2016 to end August 2016 (the end of the period covered by the report), Ofsted inspected 38 such settings; Ofsted issued 19 warning notices telling proprietors to cease operating illegally; and 15 of those providers ceased to operate illegally following those inspections. Ofsted will publish its next annual report later this year.
The annual report can be accessed on gov.uk at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/574186/Ofsted_annual_report_education_and_skills_201516_web-ready.pdf.
It is a criminal offence for any person to operate an unregistered independent school and Ofsted has powers to inspect such settings. Anyone who is found to be conducting an independent school without registration is breaking the law and may be liable to prosecution. However, in most cases, collaborative working between Ofsted and local authorities has resulted in such settings voluntarily ceasing to operate unlawfully, which is verified by the figures highlighted in the Ofsted report referred to above.
As part of our ongoing work with Ofsted and local authorities we have been raising awareness on how we can all work together to help ensure that children are safe and are receiving a suitable education. We keep this under constant review.
The legislative framework for the child protection system in England is provided largely by the Children Act 1989 and the Children Act 2004. This sets out the overarching responsibility of local authorities for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children in their area, regardless of where they are educated. It is for local authorities to assess whether the threshold for intervention is met in the case of an individual child taking account of the impact and influence of environmental factors, such as attending an unregistered school. However, wherever local authorities have reasonable cause to suspect that a child is suffering, or likely to suffer, significant harm, they are under a duty to investigate. Local authorities should make whatever enquiries necessary to decide what, if any, action to take to safeguard or promote the child’s welfare.
Asked by: Lord Warner (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress has been made with the regulation and inspection of madrassas since the announcement made by the then Prime Minister in October 2015; and what powers local authorities and Ofsted have to intervene in the operation of madrassas where there is evidence of child abuse.
Answered by Lord Nash
There is no definition of a madrassah in education law. An independent institution is required to register as a school provides full-time education to five or more pupils of compulsory school age or one or more pupils with an education, health and care plan (or a statement of special educational need) or who is looked after (within the meaning of section 22 of the Children Act 1989) and is not a school maintained by a local authority or a non-maintained special school. A madrassah will therefore only constitute an unregistered school if it is providing such education.
LAs have an overarching responsibility of local authorities for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children in their area, regardless of where they are educated. It is for local authorities to assess whether the threshold for intervention is met in the case of an individual child taking account of the impact and influence of environmental factors. However, wherever local authorities have reasonable cause to suspect that a child is suffering, or likely to suffer, significant harm, they are under a duty to investigate. Local authorities should make whatever enquiries necessary to decide what, if any, action to take to safeguard or promote the child’s welfare. The police can of course investigate any reports that a crime has been committed in an out-of-school education setting.
The Government published a Counter Extremism Strategy in 2015, which set out plans to introduce a new system of oversight for out-of-school education settings – such as supplementary schools, tuition centres and madrassahs. To learn more about these settings, and the potential scope and impact of any regulatory system, the department issued a call for evidence. We will make an announcement about the outcome in due course.
We are supporting local authorities to use their existing powers, as described above, to tackle concerns about the safeguarding of children in unregulated education settings.
Asked by: Lord Warner (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they consider that madrassas constitute unregistered schools and are capable of placing children at risk under child protection legislation.
Answered by Lord Nash
There is no definition of a madrassah in education law. An independent institution is required to register as a school provides full-time education to five or more pupils of compulsory school age or one or more pupils with an education, health and care plan (or a statement of special educational need) or who is looked after (within the meaning of section 22 of the Children Act 1989) and is not a school maintained by a local authority or a non-maintained special school. A madrassah will therefore only constitute an unregistered school if it is providing such education.
LAs have an overarching responsibility of local authorities for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children in their area, regardless of where they are educated. It is for local authorities to assess whether the threshold for intervention is met in the case of an individual child taking account of the impact and influence of environmental factors. However, wherever local authorities have reasonable cause to suspect that a child is suffering, or likely to suffer, significant harm, they are under a duty to investigate. Local authorities should make whatever enquiries necessary to decide what, if any, action to take to safeguard or promote the child’s welfare. The police can of course investigate any reports that a crime has been committed in an out-of-school education setting.
The Government published a Counter Extremism Strategy in 2015, which set out plans to introduce a new system of oversight for out-of-school education settings – such as supplementary schools, tuition centres and madrassahs. To learn more about these settings, and the potential scope and impact of any regulatory system, the department issued a call for evidence. We will make an announcement about the outcome in due course.
We are supporting local authorities to use their existing powers, as described above, to tackle concerns about the safeguarding of children in unregulated education settings.
Asked by: Lord Warner (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the current Commissioner for Birmingham City Council's children's social care services started work; how long his appointment is for; what progress reports he has provided to the Secretary of State; and whether those reports are in the public domain.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
At present, the UK Government has not signed the Safe Schools Declaration. However, in light of the recent decisions by both the French and Canadian Governments to sign up to the Declaration, the Government is reviewing its position.
We have not held discussions with the Governments of France or Canada on this matter.
Asked by: Lord Warner (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Nash on 9 June (HL354), how long it took to set up the Trusts in Kingston-upon-Thames and Slough; what were the costs of setting up those Trusts; and who bore those costs.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
At present, the UK Government has not signed the Safe Schools Declaration. However, in light of the recent decisions by both the French and Canadian Governments to sign up to the Declaration, the Government is reviewing its position.
We have not held discussions with the Governments of France or Canada on this matter.
Asked by: Lord Warner (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what powers they intend should be available to the proposed new Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel to draw to the attention of the judiciary any concerns about the conduct of the courts in any review it conducts.
Answered by Lord Nash
It will be the role of the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel to carry out and publish reviews into serious child safeguarding cases which raise issues which are complex or of national importance. It is for the Panel itself to determine whether, and if so how, it should draw to the attention of relevant parties any specific recommendations which arise from reviews.