Introduction

The previous two chapters laid out first a theoretical vision of why EHE is for individuals to discover and then empirical data about what happens when this discovery is made. Limitations imposed on and of this scene are now discussed. Understanding factors of marginality of EHE discovery can help appreciation of the social and political issues touched upon previously, as well as the educational aspects running throughout the book.

The UK government (as it relates to England) is well aware of the historical precedents within England of and for EHE as a legal and socially embedded practice. It is clear that attempting to prohibit EHE altogether would be met with significant opposition on grounds of civil liberties within the UK democracy and implications that would be too weighty for other areas of statute. The Badman Review was careful to clarify that the right to home educate would not be interfered with (Badman, 2009, p 8). Subsequent reports have strongly reiterated this (House of Commons Education Committee, 2012). Despite such ‘support’ for EHE, this support is not and has never been active, and perhaps deliberately so. In Chapter Three I highlighted how a change to this situation was asked for, with an attempt made by the Chair of the Education Select Committee to garner support within policy making, through the agreement of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Education to become a ‘champion’ for EHE.

Government information about EHE: the status quo

The occasion of a request within government for an EHE champion to function there is part of an official scene of not ‘championing’ EHE at all. This is because any improvements at local authority level are left to authorities to get wrong or right on their own (see House of Commons Education Committee, 2013):