Act now to stop government overreach on parental rights

The government’s Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, which clamps down on parental rights, is being rushed through Parliament.

The committee stage for this bill, pushed through just after Christmas, will be between Tuesday 21 January and Tuesday 11 February.

Please actively consider writing to your constituency MP, and/or writing to the MPs who are members of the scrutinising committee, to share your concerns as soon as possible.

If you write to your own MP, please ask them to represent your views to their party’s representative on the committee. Please also consider our recent article and the excellent and detailed commentary given on the issues found on HEByte as you determine your response.

If you have relevant expertise, please respond to this call for evidence.

If you are able to, please submit evidence directly to the committee, in less than 3,000 words, by Friday 24 January. We predict that the most disturbing of the clauses of the bill will be discussed in the committee after that date.

Those who have personal evidence of where local authorities, social services, Ofsted or state schools have ignored or been dismissive of parental rights and freedoms in their attitudes and actions, and/or evidence of how home educating families have already been badly treated, should send this as evidence to the committee as soon as possible.

We expect the most egregious clauses of the bill to be discussed on Tuesday 28 January and Tuesday 4 February. If left to pass, these clauses will increase local authority and School Attendance Order powers in deeply concerning ways and require the keeping of detailed records on families at an unprecedented level.

Please pray in advance of and during the committee’s deliberations.

How to make a submission

Guidelines for submissions are given on the call for evidence web page.

In summary:

• Your submission should highlight or discuss views on or concerns with the existing provisions of the Bill. You can also suggest amendments to the Bill.
• If you have relevant expertise or experience, state that clearly at the top of your submission along with a brief introduction about you.
• Your submission should, as a guideline, not exceed 3,000 words. Shorter submissions are fine.
• Your submission should be in a Word document and start with a summary. Paragraphs should be numbered, but there should be no page numbering.
• You submission should not comment on matters currently or soon to be before a court of law.
• Material published elsewhere should not form the basis of your submission, but you can refer to and provide links to previously published material. You should not publish your evidence until the Committee has done so.
• Most submissions will be published online by the Committee. If you do not want your submission published then you should explain this and give reasons why you wish it to remain confidential.
• Your submission should be emailed to scrutiny@parliament.uk
• Submissions are requested as soon as possible, but in any case you should aim to email your submission by no later than 24 January 2025.

Points to make

It is crucial that you make your own points based on your own expertise or experience and understanding of the issues.

You may wish to state in giving your personal evidence that:

• Parental freedoms to educate their children and live a private life will be eroded through this bill and the requirements of registration. This is enshrined in Article 8 of ECHR.
• The Bill would allow for religious teaching as part of its broad education definition. Home educating parents who have their children taught in churches will have to report to the LA that their child attends, for example, a Sunday School, and include the postal address of the church and names and addresses of the Sunday School teachers.
• If the Bill passes, the state will be assuming it has a higher authority than parents and is the primary educator of children. This is a major overreach, ignoring historical precedent, British and Christian values. It disrespects and devalues parents in their crucial role in raising children.
• The requirements on parents are draconian and will lead to Ofsted-style inspection of private homes to check whether they are ‘suitable’.
• The freedom for authorities to require ‘any’ other information is a vast overreach, backed by financial penalties and prison sentences should parents refuse.
• All these powers could easily be abused for ideological purposes by future governments.
• Any other many relevant points from the links and resources referenced.

Your submission will be read by all the members of the Committee and will add to the pressure on them to recognise the many serious problems with allowing this Bill to become law.