Dear Mr Badman,

AHEd members call for the Review of Home Education to be cancelled immediately on various grounds, not least because of the illegitimate Terms of Reference. We have completed the consultation document, not in recognition of the value or legitimacy of the review, but as a means of being statistically included and conveying important messages about the errors inherent in the consultation process and questions.

We attach a copy of the response of AHEd members to the six question consultation "Home Education - Your Views" on the DCSF consultation web site.

AHEd object to the claim that this is not in fact a consultation, thereby allowing for avoidance of the regulations governing public consultations set by the Better Regulations Executive. DCSF Public Communications Unit state:

"Mr Badman has decided that he wants his review to be informed by material from a wide range of stakeholders, so he decided to offer the opportunity for organisations and individuals to contribute to the review by filling in a questionnaire."

Quite how this aim can be achieved by avoiding good consultation practice and thus limiting the scope of those reached is a mystery, especially as the major and only really valid stakeholder group, home educators, are likely to be those most frequently excluded by this methodology. Despite efforts from within the HE community to contact a wide range of home educators, it is not possible to reach anywhere near the majority of the estimated 20,000 to 50,000 home educators.

On the other hand, local authorities who also had access to the six question consultation (and who are known to be often hostile toward and uneducated about home education and who are largely responsible for the calls for unwarranted increases in their powers) have been asked to complete an exclusive 60 question missive.  The questions in this document demonstrate a shocking lack of understanding of the law and constitute a blatant incitement to local authorities to illicitly harass and persecute home educating families. They also highlight the DCSF's and Review Team's disdain for the Elective Home Education Guidelines for England which were only recently published by the DCSF after an extensive public consultation.

AHEd members believe that the review has been composed in this skewed manner in order to attain predetermined answers for the purpose of supporting the government's desire to impose compulsory registration, monitoring and tracking of electively home educated children and their families, including state control and prescription of educational method, content and outcome for all children. The government's motto seems to be "If at first you don't succeed (in getting the answers you want from your consultation) try, try, try again (using increasingly devious techniques to try to thwart those who oppose you).

Further evidence of the predetermined outcome of this review was provided by yourself in a meeting with home educators when you declared that the "status quo" cannot prevail and changes WILL be made. Saying this before the review is complete is a clear indication that you have a predetermined outcome.

AHEd members are aware of the document "Education Otherwise Prospectus for Improving Support to Home Educating Families" presented to the review and wish to distance ourselves from it and dismiss the proposals out of hand. The document was written by a handful of home educators with no reference at all to the wider home education community or even to Education Otherwise members. In our opinion it does not represent proposals we would be happy to engage with and is extremely unlikely to have support in the wider home educating community. On the contrary, it has caused outrage.

AHEd members insist in the strongest possible terms that the only necessary changes are for LAs to stop ultra vires activity and instead learn to use the legal powers they already have. If changes in legislation that reduce the freedoms of home educators are proposed, this would be an act of the utmost hostility toward home educators and would be rejected out of hand by the home education community.

The public, especially those actually involved and likely to be affected by the outcome, do not have a taste for accepting such invasion into their private business. Our members will not co-operate with their own oppression and will continue to act and speak for our historic freedom to raise and educate our children in accordance with our personal philosophies, religious beliefs and conscience. Please see our Parents’ Declaration, attached.

You may also be aware of our petition which gathered 3,126 signatures in a short time plus that of the petition creator: http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/Homeedreview/

Further material supporting our call for cessation of the review is included.

Yours sincerely,

                ,

for the committee and membership of AHEd.

(Chair, AHEd.) 

Attached:

1. AHEd response to Home Education Your Views – questionnaire.

2. Terms Of Reference, member comments: a case for the illegitimacy of this review, to which we would like the courtesy of a full response.

3. Problems re LA Questionnaire

4. Reading list

5. What do We Want from LAs?

6. Declaration.