Tougher home-school rules after Sara Sharif's death

Councils will be ordered to visit children soon after they are home schooled, as part of the government's response to the death of Sara Sharif.

Measures in the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill will require local authorities to "assess the child's home environment" within 15 days of them being added to a register of children not in school.

The recommendations come after the death of Sara, 10, who was murdered by her father and stepmother in Woking, Surrey after being taken out of school.

A review into Sara's death found she had been removed from school "to keep her hidden from view in the last weeks of her life".

Education minister Baroness Smith of Malvern told the House of Lords: "For many families, a visit from their elective home education officer is already a routine part of an annual check-in.

"In reflecting on the findings of the Sara Sharif review, it is important to be clear that while home education was relevant to Sara's visibility to agencies, her death was caused by the actions of her father, not by her being home educated."

Sara was found dead in the family home in Woking in August 2023, with her father Urfan Sharif, and stepmother, Beinash Batool, jailed for life in December 2024 for killing her.

Sara's uncle, Faisal Malik, was found guilty of causing or allowing her death and jailed for 16 years.

On Wednesday, Woking MP Will Forster told a Westminster Hall debate that Sara Sharif's death was "not a one-off tragedy", but a consequence of children's services being "hollowed out".

The new requirement to visit home schooled children was added to the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill as part of a suite of late-stage Government amendments.

Lady Smith also proposed giving councils the ability to refuse consent when a parent wants to remove their child from school, if their child has been on a protection plan in the previous five years.

But peers voted by 231 to 147 to extend this proposal, so an authority has a right of refusal if a child has ever been subject to child protection inquires or care proceedings.

Additional reporting by PA Media.

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