Act now to stop government overreach on parental rights
from Christian Concern:
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.