Measures to tighten up home schooling in England in the wake of 10-year-old Sara Sharif’s murder at the hands of her father and stepmother are to be unveiled in a bill before parliament on Tuesday.
The children’s wellbeing and schools bill will enable the government to introduce registers to identify and keep track of children not in school, while parents seeking to educate their child at home will face greater scrutiny.
Under the new legislation, parents will no longer have an automatic right to educate their children at home if their child is subject to a child protection investigation or under a child protection plan.
If a child’s home environment is judged to be unsuitable or unsafe, councils will also have new powers to intervene in home schooling arrangements and require school attendance for any child.
The bill was welcomed by the children’s commissioner, Dame Rachel de Souza, who said: “The urgency with which this legislation is being introduced to parliament demonstrates the importance of these issues.
“It lays a foundation for change in many children’s lives – many of whom have been neglected or hidden by services working in silo. For these children, this legislation cannot come quickly enough.”
Sara Sharif was found dead in her bunk bed at the family home in Surrey on 10 August 2023 four months after being taken out of school to be educated at home, despite recent social services referrals after teachers noticed bruises on her face.
Last week, her father, Urfan Sharif, 42, and her stepmother, Beinash Batool, 30, were found guilty of her murder. Her uncle Faisal Malik, 29, who lived with them, was convicted of causing or allowing her death.
The new bill will also pave the way for the introduction of a unique identifier number for children across services – rather like an adult’s national insurance number – to help join up relevant data and prevent children from falling through the cracks.
New rules governing schools in England, meanwhile, indicate a slight shift away from the predominance of the academies programme. Under the proposals, failing schools run by local authorities will not be automatically forced to become an academy, and councils “will be able to welcome proposals for all types of school, not just academies”.
The education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, said: “In recent years, too many children have been failed by their last line of defence: the state. This bill will be a seminal moment for child protection. No more words, no more lessons learned. This government will put children first at every turn.”