Pupil Registration Regulations

EDM number 96 in 1995-96, proposed by Nigel Jones on 22/11/1995.

That this House notes the tragic disappearance of Charmaine West from St. James Junior School in Gloucester in 1971; notes that the excuse given by stepmother, the convicted murderer Rosemary West, for withdrawing Charmaine from school was that she had returned to live with her natural mother; is concerned that the 1956 Pupils Registration Regulations, which were updated in 1995, provide no method of checking that a school-age child who is withdrawn from one school actually receives education by attending school, or otherwise, elsewhere; commends Gloucestershire County Council for implementing a voluntary scheme whereby schools have a duty to inform the local education authority of pupils who are withdrawn from school to move elsewhere; and calls upon the Government to improve child protection measures by implementing a national scheme for pupil transfers to help ensure that children cannot disappear without trace.

This motion has been signed by a total of 20 MPs.