To report parents for not registering the birth of a child

[Anon6356237]

Should I stay out of it or report? I'm concerned the child could fly under the radar if there are any concerns if they are not 'in the system'. Who would I report to?

There’s just been a court case reported - parents are not allowed to not register the child, it isn’t a choice. The child will have all sorts of problems as an adult, they won’t be able to get a passport, won’t have sufficient ID to get a bank account, a tenancy, a mortgage, a DBS clearance, won’t be able to travel out of the UK, and in the ‘hostile climate’ for immigrants won’t be able to actually prove they have the right to reside here either.

I see prh47bridge I've learnt something new. But do we know that's what their beliefs are? I still say its much more likely they are unregistered home educators and have said 'we are not known to the authority' or 'DS/DD is not registered in the system we did not register his/her birth details (ie give his general details) with the LA for schooling. Which can sound if they don't make what they mean clear.

This would mean the child did not access health care which is dangerous. Also moving forward no NI number

"But do we know that's what their beliefs are?"

OP said that they had not registered the child to avoid the state owning to DC. That really is a hallmark of FMOTL

I hope you’re reported OP. It’s the i right thing to do. If there’s even a reasonable doubt about the child’s birth registration, then it should be followed up. If (as some posters want to believe despite your account showing the exact opposite), it was a confusion with “not registered at school because of hope education”, then the investigation authority can check a database and if needed, follow up with the family. If the child is registered, the family will simply say “yes little Ann Smith was born on XXX at Xxx place and registered at XXX county registry office” when a baby. Case closed.

If on the other hand, the child is a victim of trafficking/abuse/is in fact Madeline McCann etc, then isn’t it a good thing that someone investigates?

I’m not at all for the nanny state but an unregistered child is so incredibly vulnerable, both now and in their future lives, and their human right to a legal existence is being denied. That’s monstrous to ignore.

And if something were to happen to this child, everyones first question.
Why wasn't the child registered?
Why didnt someone report them

OP said that they had not registered the child to avoid the state owning to DC. That really is a hallmark of FMOTL.

But some purist Home Educators use this same language. "The government doesn't own my child"....."we are under the radar"....."we are deregistered/unregistered" ....."The local authority doesn't know us"..."We're not registering DC2" etc etc. Except it has entirely different ramifications when used in the former context even though it can sound extreme.

However I concede that based on the FMOTL nonsense it's not entirely unlikely, and I would therefore possibly report.

Even if the parents are generally good parents and not trying to hide the child for sinister reasons, not being registered is likely to cause her major problems as she grows up.

Right to work checks = no job
Right to rent checks = no house
NHS eligibility checks = no healthcare
Passport application = no travel
etc.

If parents register their child and then bring them up 'off grid', the child will be able to choose how to live as an adult. They might choose to follow their parents' lifestyle or they might not. If parents just never register their child, the child will always be trapped.

@WyfOfBathe - yes, it's a slow abuse rather than an immediate one. The child is fed and safe, but their parents are slowing doing something that will distroy their adult life chances. Just because it won't damage them tomorrow, doesn't mean it's not slowly happening.

i'd report it. better to be safe than sorry.

Why do people get so involved in other peoples lives. Let people live. Its not your business.

I'm guess some would report someone for not registering for a fishing licence or a TV license. Naziism is alive and well. Report your neighbour.

No wonder people become recluses. It's the only way to avoid the busybody world this world has become. They survived before registers and electoral rolls. We are all proof of that.

Some people would think that a child's welfare is more important than a fishing licence.

No wonder people become recluses. It's the only way to avoid the busybody world this world has become. They survived before registers and electoral rolls. We are all proof of that.
True story.
We also survived enough before the polio vaccine.
We survived believing that material rape wasn't a crime.
We survived thinking people with mental health issues and learning disabilities should be locked up.
We survived it being socially acceptable to hit your children.

Society changes. Right now it is considered socially and morally wrong to render your child stateless and hide them from relevant professionals because of some paranoid conspiracy theory.

Right now it's generally accepted that there is a collective responsibility to safeguard children.

Right now anyone who compares safeguarding children to being a Nazi thought police busybody and shopping your neighbour is probably going to seem a bit paranoid.

** marital rape

Whether the registers the birth is registered or not has absolutely nothing whatsover to do with you. Mind your own business. If you genuinely want to help someone because you sincerely care for them, do practical things to help. Keep confidences. Don't gossip, don't meddle or be a busy body

@ladycatlover that post is really interesting. It's also in the context of that child already being in proceedings. I'm very curious as to what happens if the child isn't in proceedings and there are no other welfare concerns

@CatherineOfAragonsPrayerBook - Yes we do know what their beliefs are. In one of the OP's posts it says that refusing to register the birth is "Something to do with the government owning their child". That's the kind of stuff peddled by "freeman on the land" gurus.

In essence, "freemen" believe that there are two parts to their existence - the physical person and the legal person (some versions of this theory have more parts than this but I'm trying to keep this simple!). The physical person is not subject to statutory law. The legal person, on the other hand, comes into being when the birth is registered, belongs to the government and is subject to statutory law. Therefore, if they don't register the birth of their child, the child will not have a legal person, will not belong to the government and will not be subject to statutory law. The child will, therefore, not have to pay taxes, obey speed limits, pay parking fines and so on.

I've tried to keep that simple. There are lots of slightly different versions of this around. None of them make sense. But anyone who talks about registering the birth meaning that the government owns the child has clearly fallen for "freemen on the land" or similar.

I would definitely report these whackjob parents.

OP, have you reported this yet?

The people that fish without a licence tend to cause a huge amount of harm to the ecosystem - they often fish during the close season when spawning takes place, which has the effect of reducing the numbers of fry for successive generations, they use livebait (which is unspeakably cruel and, depending on what they use - often goldfish - introduce disease into new areas), barbed hooks (and often tear them out, permanently injuring the fish), leave line and other dangerous litter around to kill wildfowl, overfeed, stress fish by using keepnets for extended periods, have a non existent appreciation of infection control and, on the whole, cause a hell of a lot more trouble than people who pay a few pounds towards protecting the aquatic environment.

Hell yeah, I'd report somebody fishing without a licence. Because I'm obviously a Nazi, what with it being just the same as transporting Jews to gas chambers.

Re Something to do with the government owning their child 👶🏻

I would discreetly report this to every authority possible before they fly the next again as they are in effect making their child beholden to them as it cannot freely engage in society. They are effectively denying their child the opportunity to legally marry, obtain a passport to travel the world, be in written possession of its actual date of birth etc, be able to register with a doctor and receive appropriate medical treatment if necessary or get contraception at the age of consent or work legally obtaining a NI number ...
The list is endless ! If they are denying a child its birth certificate what else will they be denying it in their quest for absolute ownership! The government only supports unless you give Nanny a reason not to Xxx

There is a balance between the rights of parents and the rights of the child, which is why the Childrens Act focused on Duty and Responsibility of Parents over their "Rights"
This child will have limited and difficult choices in life because of the decision of their parents. It is the child who is in chains because they parents don't want to be beholden to the state

Thanks for explaining that @prh47bridge. Interesting.