Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 on the home school register.

The Children Not in School measures in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026, when implemented, will require local authorities in England and Wales to maintain registers of children who are not in school, including home-educated children.

The department has published impact assessments considering a broad range of impacts of the measures, which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/childrens-wellbeing-and-schools-bill-impact-assessments. These include the regulatory impact assessment for the measures which outlines estimated costs to businesses and households. More information on the regulatory impact assessment is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67dd5d05d8e313b503358c04/Children_Not_in_School.pdf.

We have assessed that the measures will result in new burdens for local authorities. We are currently conducting a full new burdens assessment to establish the exact amount of additional funding required by local authorities in England to fulfil the new duties, including the support duty. Further evidence for this assessment will be gathered through a public consultation ahead of implementation of the measures.