The council is seeking views on how it provides education for children not able to attend school due to illness or exclusion.

The EOTAS policy (Education Otherwise Than At School) is a policy all councils must have to show how they will support children should they be unable to attend school. Councillor Ruth Buttery, cabinet member for children and young people said:

"As part of the council’s holistic approach to children and their education, and to further support them and their families during challenging times EOTAS are provided to support the child’s education in the short term, before being reintegrated into the most appropriate school for that child’s learning needs.

"This process is done with as much care, consideration and understanding of the child’s needs as possible, and multiple agencies are involved to ensure that the care is right for that individual child.

"As recommended by Ofsted nationally we need to review our statement of practice and are therefore putting this into a draft statement out to public consultation, which will then feed into the final report."

The draft statement is now out for consultation and can be found at dudley.gov.uk/eotas. The deadline for comments is Friday July 10.