Written evidence submitted by Mr Greg Ashby
The current approach strikes an appropriate balance between family privacy and child protection – local authorities have substantial powers to intervene when they have good reason to believe there is a problem.
I believe strongly that local authorities should not be given any additional powers. Resources a r limited enough as it is- why on earth why would one want to increase their responsibility at a time of cut backs. There are many more important uses for finite resources.
For similar reasons I oppose a mandatory register.
I believe that any support should be entirely voluntary, available on request from parents.
There must be no implication that not requesting support, or declining to follow advice offered, is a cause for concern.
There is also no question that it is the case that the state sector is failing parents generally and some parents feel they have to remove their children from state schools because, for educational or behavioural reasons. Many teaches now are incapable of controlling a class.
G S Ashby Oct 2020
October 2020