Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether social services investigations into families are automatically triggered if a family chooses an educational method, such as home education, other than those listed in their Education and Health Care Assessment.

Social services investigations into families are not automatically triggered if a family whose child has an Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment chooses to educate their child at home. Under section 7 of the Education Act 1996, parents have the right to educate their child at home. Home education must be suitable to the child’s age, ability, aptitude and special educational needs.

Where local authorities and parents agree that home education is the right provision for a child with an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan, the plan should make clear that the child will be educated at home. If it does, the local authority must arrange the special educational provision in the plan, working with the parents.

In cases where the local authority names a school or type of school that it considers appropriate in the child’s EHC plan but the parents decided to educate the child at home, the local authority is not under a duty to arrange the special educational provision specified in the plan provided that it is satisfied that the arrangements made by the parents are suitable. Local authorities do not have the right of entry to the family home to check that the provision being made by the parent is suitable and may only enter the home at the invitation of the parents.