It has cost more than £15,000 so far to draft new education laws - with outside help having to be brought in.

Consultation closed last week on the Education Bill, which updates the current 2001 Education Act and aims to create a framework for regulation and curriculum.

The bill includes new rules to combat bullying on social media and an underscoring of the government’s commitment to inclusivity in education, banning selection on the grounds of ability.

Education Minister Graham Cregeen revealed the drafting costs for the bill so far come to £15,883.

Drafting of the bill took place after an earlier consultation on what principles to include within the bill, but help from outside the Isle of Man had to be called in.

Mr Cregeen said: ’The Attorney General’s office did not have sufficient drafting capacity to do a bill of this size at that juncture, so the department secured the services of a very experienced UK draftsman, Daniel Greenberg.’

He described Mr Greenberg as a barrister specialising in legislation, who is parliamentary counsel for domestic legislation in the UK, drafts primary and secondary legislation in the UK and has previously drafted legislation for the Isle of Mam’.

The Minister was responding to a written question from Daphne Caine (Garff).

The Bill would remove the current stipulation that religious education should be ’broadly Christian’, as well as effectively disband both the Religious Education Advisory Council and the Education Council.

Many parts of the bill are essentially enabling measures and the true focus may come when regulations drawn up as secondary legislation, further down the line.

The consultation that has just closed was open to anyone to respond.

In a separate Tynwald question, Mr Cregeen was called on by Julie Edge (Onchan) to list what meetings had been held about the Bill.

The minister revealed that separate specific meetings were held with primary and secondary head teachers, plus two meetings with different teaching unions. There were no direct meetings with teachers or teaching professionals.

But the Bill had also been a ’regular item on meetings with head teachers and senior leaders’ and they were encouraged to make staff and pupils aware of the proposals.

Information was requested from ’key stakeholders’, including head teachers, unions and department officers. Some schools also supplied information following consultation meetings the heads held with teachers.

The Department for Education, Sport and Culture held five meetings specifically on the subject of ’home educator parents’, with families attending two of those meetings.

One of the more controversial aspects of the draft bill is tougher rules on home learning - critics have raised the prospect of legal action and even claimed the wording of the consultation was unfair.

Parents are currently required to notify the government of plans to home educate but the draft bill would take the law further, stating: ’The department must assess the educational development of children in the island receiving home education.’

Under the Bill assessments must be carried out for each child and the parent 'must comply’ with any request by the department to provide information for assessment.

Last month, Mr Cregeen admitted that despite discussions with home educators, it got to the point where ’we could not agree on the way forward’.