Relationships between Portsmouth City Council and home educating families broke down in 2020 to the point that a Judicial review was brought by a home educating parent. This report examines relationships between those parents and the Council, finding that home educating families considered their relationships with the council to be founded on fear and intimidation. Fear of public bodies leads to breakdown of trust in those bodies. Breakdown of trust in public bodies in turn leads to lowered compliance with all aspects of public policy, reduced social cohesion, increased public body costs in both financial and staff commitment, together with greater staff dissatisfaction.
