Debates held in Plenary and Committee sessions during late March and early April Welsh Conservatives abstain in Senedd CME Database Pilot Regulations vote Agenda item 7 of the Senedd Plenary session [video] on Tuesday 1 April was the Children Act 2004 (Children Missing Education Database) (Pilot) (Wales) Regulations 2025. Cabinet… Read More »Further activity in the Senedd on CME Databases and the CWS Bill
Failure of database pilots would make it necessary for the government to find a way to impose a duty on parents to register their children as being home educated On 17 September, MS for South Wales Central Rhys ab Owen, (Independent) tabled two Written Questions. Firstly he asked: “Why doesn’t… Read More »Senedd member submits Written Questions about improving accuracy of CME database and about evaluation of pilots
In 2018 the Education Minister of the time, Kirsty Williams, had no hesitation in saying that the proposals to create Children Missing Education databases were an integral part of the Welsh Government’s intention “to identify who is home educated, and to assess if they are receiving suitable education.” Two years… Read More »Cabinet Secretary for Education says CME Databases “are not about elective home education”
In her first Evidence Session before CYPEC, Lynne Neagle effectively stated her view that attending school was better for children’s mental health than being home educated Wednesday 8 May saw the newly appointed Cabinet Secretary for Education, Lynne Neagle (Lab, Torfaen), attending her first meeting with the Children Young People… Read More »Cabinet Secretary for Education believes “being in school is a mental health intervention in itself”
Education Minster takes oral questions at Senedd Plenary before moving to new role As widely reported, Vaughan Gething was appointed First Minister of Wales on 20 March and has since announced his “new look cabinet.” (We note that Mr Gething has chosen to return to a previous practice of calling… Read More »Senedd Plenary – 13 March 2024
Post publication update: Following the raising of concerns by HE families about the wording of this call for evidence, on 6 March, the Chair of the Children, Young People and Education Committee emailed the team behind the Facebook group, Home Ed Cymru, to explain “that home educated children are not,… Read More »Senedd Committee groups “children not enrolled in mainstream education” with others deemed to be “on the margins”
Statement by the Minister for Education and the Welsh Language: Attendance Guidance Agenda item 6 at the Senedd Plenary session on 24 October took the form of a parliamentary statement from Jeremy Miles, timed to coincide with the publication of new attendance guidance entitled ‘Belonging, Engaging and Participating.’ Miles’ opening… Read More »Senedd Plenary – 24 October 2023
When the Senedd’s Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee met on Monday 12 June, correspondence they had received from home educators about the Welsh Government’s Guidance on Elective Home Education featured as a separate item to note on their agenda. Chair Huw Irranca-Davies introduced agenda item 5 during the public session,… Read More »Two Senedd committees inundated with correspondence from home educators – June 2023
This post contains a report on the debate around the Minister’s statement on 6 June, followed by a comment on the implications of the Welsh Government’s policies in regard to home education. Jeremy Miles Minister for Education and Welsh Language made a statement about the recently published Welsh Government’s guidance… Read More »Senedd Plenary – 6 June 2023
On Friday 12 May, after many delays, the Welsh Government published its new statutory guidance for local authorities. This was almost exactly a year after Education Minister, Jeremy Miles MS, had informed Senedd that his Department was “seeking further evidence in support of the proposals…” He added: The unforeseen delay… Read More »New Guidance Published – Warts and All
