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Truancy

Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many school truancies were recorded during the last 12 months in each local education authority area; and if he will make a statement. [148311]

Jacqui Smith: The number of half-days missed as a result of unauthorised absence (truancy) by pupils; and the percentage of those half-days missed, for each local authority area in England in 1999-2000 (the latest figures available) are shown in the table.

Although there has been some significant improvement in attendance levels, too many children are still missing school without good reason. Over half of these are primary school children, most of whom will be absent with their parents' consent. That is why, last autumn, we announced a renewed drive to tackle truancy including extra resources available to schools and LEAs to tackle poor behaviour, with truancy the top priority. £174 million will be available in 2001-02--10 times the level in 1996-97. We have also begun a co-ordinated nationwide programme of truancy sweeps to pick up youngsters who should be in school. In addition, our Excellence in Cities programme is being expanded to provide more on-site learning mentors in schools to support children with barriers to attending school and learning. We are also asking schools with above average truancy records to set new targets for attendance. On 28 February, I am giving "Truancy Buster" awards of up to £10,000 to up to 50 schools in the country which have done the most to reduce truancy. From 1 March, the provisions of the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000 will come into effect with higher fines for the parents of persistent truants. And from 1 April, the first Connexions Service Partnerships will start, and will give priority to improving attendance at school for all young people aged 13 and over. All these measures are designed to help schools improve attendance and learning.

26 Feb 2001 : Column: 339W

Unauthorised absence in maintained primary and secondary schools 1999-2000

	Primary schools		Secondary schools		Primary and secondary schools
	Number of half days missed	Percentage of half days missed	Number of half days missed	Percentage of half days missed	Number of half days missed	Percentage of half days missed
Barking and Dagenham	60,889	1.4	51,301	1.7	112,190	1.5
Barnet	34,489	0.5	58,244	1.1	92,733	0.8
Barnsley	43,025	0.8	73,675	1.9	116,700	1.3
Bath and North East Somerset	11,887	0.3	18,651	0.6	30,538	0.5
Bedfordshire	18,651	0.3	49,049	0.5	67,700	0.4
Bexley	17,859	0.3	47,779	1.1	65,638	0.7
Birmingham	186,730	0.7	294,411	1.6	481,141	1.1
Blackburn with Darwen	20,386	0.5	38,810	1.4	59,196	0.9
Blackpool	27,928	0.8	43,581	1.9	71,509	1.3
Bolton	16,947	0.2	62,595	1.2	79,542	0.6
Bournemouth	16,373	0.6	20,435	0.8	36,808	0.7
Bracknell Forest	5,538	0.2	14,518	0.9	20,056	0.5
Bradford	95,943	0.9	215,869	2.0	311,812	1.4
Brent	32,672	0.6	38,519	1.0	71,191	0.8
Brighton and Hove	27,442	0.6	30,683	1.0	58,125	0.8
Bristol, City of	71,390	0.9	109,706	2.2	181,096	1.4
Bromley	25,339	0.4	30,357	0.6	55,696	0.5
Buckinghamshire	22,132	0.2	43,218	0.5	65,350	0.3
Bury	18,277	0.4	17,644	0.5	35,921	0.4
Calderdale	16,945	0.3	28,219	0.7	45,164	0.5
Cambridgeshire	46,618	0.4	67,452	0.8	114,070	0.6
Camden	33,948	1.2	39,395	1.5	73,343	1.4
Cheshire	52,539	0.3	88,581	0.7	141,120	0.5
Cornwall	36,915	0.3	36,779	0.4	73,694	0.4
Coventry	27,671	0.4	72,408	1.3	100,079	0.8
Croydon	38,308	0.5	27,778	0.6	66,086	0.5
Cumbria	16,335	0.1	50,995	0.6	67,330	0.3
Darlington	5,893	0.2	28,063	1.6	33,956	0.8
Derby City	39,697	0.7	32,464	0.8	72,161	0.7
Derbyshire	49,783	0.3	122,584	0.9	172,367	0.6
Devon	39,947	0.3	108,419	1.0	148,366	0.6
Doncaster	35,533	0.5	130,278	2.3	165,811	1.3
Dorset	20,982	0.3	41,879	0.5	62,861	0.4
Dudley	23,145	0.3	43,310	0.7	66,455	0.5
Durham	13,060	0.1	96,285	1.1	109,345	0.5
Ealing	29,720	0.5	44,899	1.2	74,619	0.7
East Riding of Yorkshire	15,019	0.2	52,312	0.9	67,331	0.5
East Sussex	44,406	0.4	87,624	1.1	132,030	0.7
Enfield	70,278	1.1	88,221	1.7	158,499	1.4
Essex	101,118	0.3	200,408	0.9	301,526	0.6
Gateshead	18,252	0.4	44,244	1.3	62,496	0.8
Gloucestershire	32,413	0.3	47,315	0.5	79,728	0.4
Greenwich	69,301	1.4	70,953	1.9	140,254	1.6
Hackney	62,469	1.5	44,246	2.2	106,715	1.7
Halton	21,724	0.7	40,320	1.6	62,044	1.1
Hammersmith and Fulham	29,917	1.2	34,337	2.2	64,254	1.6
Hampshire	89,534	0.3	166,787	0.8	256,321	0.5
Haringey	88,807	2.0	69,291	2.3	158,098	2.1
Harrow	24,764	0.5	18,796	0.7	43,560	0.6
Hartlepool	17,207	0.7	31,726	1.6	48,933	1.1
Havering	8,750	0.2	23,433	0.5	32,183	0.3
Herefordshire	9,444	0.2	18,132	0.6	27,576	0.4
Hertfordshire	70,934	0.3	123,502	0.6	194,436	0.5
Hillingdon	55,578	0.9	59,554	1.4	115,132	1.1
Hounslow	42,307	0.9	37,871	0.9	80,178	0.9
Isle of Wight	3,120	0.2	23,585	0.7	26,705	0.5
Isles of Scilly	59	0.1	23	0.1	82	0.1
Islington	47,329	1.2	40,597	2.0	87,926	1.5
Kensington and Chelsea	11,936	0.8	16,946	1.8	28,882	1.2
Kent	113,697	0.4	139,685	0.6	253,382	0.5
Kingston upon Hull, City of	49,597	0.8	136,544	2.9	186,141	1.7
Kingston upon Thames	9,432	0.3	19,896	0.9	29,328	0.6
Kirklees	56,235	0.6	94,521	1.2	150,756	0.9
Knowsley	28,188	0.7	91,945	3.1	120,133	1.6
Lambeth	47,382	1.1	20,350	1.0	67,732	1.1
Lancashire	99,490	0.3	181,547	0.8	281,037	0.6
Leeds	85,130	0.5	249,839	2.0	334,969	1.2
Leicester City	38,711	0.5	92,160	1.9	130,871	1.1
Leicestershire	22,544	0.2	140,758	1.2	163,302	0.6
Lewisham	81,270	1.5	96,545	2.9	177,815	2.1
Lincolnshire	42,390	0.3	95,001	0.8	137,391	0.5
Liverpool	67,499	0.6	138,857	1.6	206,356	1.0
London, City of	1,024	1.9	0	-	1,024	1.9
Luton	25,802	0.5	29,957	0.9	55,759	0.7
Manchester	94,704	0.9	125,859	1.9	220,563	1.3
Medway	24,487	0.4	52,977	1.0	77,464	0.7
Merton	21,164	0.6	38,336	1.7	59,500	1.0
Middlesbrough	20,005	0.5	42,628	1.6	62,633	1.0
Milton Keynes	21,588	0.4	15,988	0.5	37,576	0.4
Newcastle upon Tyne	24,397	0.5	61,491	1.3	85,888	0.9
Newham	112,799	1.7	138,744	2.7	251,543	2.1
Norfolk	81,321	0.4	111,608	0.9	192,929	0.6
North East Lincolnshire	13,357	0.3	61,350	1.8	74,707	1.0
North Lincolnshire	7,559	0.2	34,017	1.1	41,576	0.6
North Somerset	12,289	0.3	23,256	0.7	35,545	0.5
North Tyneside	3,907	0.1	23,362	0.6	27,269	0.3
North Yorkshire	18,933	0.2	48,373	0.5	67,306	0.3
Northamptonshire	60,425	0.4	101,031	0.8	161,456	0.6
Northumberland	6,545	0.1	32,956	0.4	39,501	0.3
Nottingham, City of	64,112	0.9	121,271	2.9	185,383	1.7
Nottinghamshire	65,448	0.4	198,475	1.3	263,923	0.8
Oldham	31,354	0.5	70,778	1.4	102,132	0.9
Oxfordshire	38,426	0.3	131,774	1.3	170,200	0.8
Peterborough, City of	29,298	0.7	30,768	0.9	60,066	0.8
Plymouth, City of	21,594	0.4	27,565	0.6	49,159	0.5
Poole	14,347	0.5	11,589	0.6	25,936	0.5
Portsmouth	31,589	0.8	54,904	1.8	86,493	1.2
Reading	26,231	0.9	12,116	0.8	38,347	0.9
Redbridge	41,755	0.8	28,671	0.6	70,426	0.7
Redcar and Cleveland	7,970	0.2	37,027	1.1	44,997	0.6
Richmond upon Thames	8,031	0.3	43,129	1.8	51,160	0.9
Rochdale	24,480	0.4	55,914	1.4	80,394	0.8
Rotherham	42,593	0.6	64,038	1.2	106,631	0.9
Rutland	510	0.1	4,045	0.6	4,555	0.3
Salford	34,118	0.6	49,408	1.3	83,526	0.9
Sandwell	34,569	0.5	86,784	1.5	121,353	0.9
Sefton	16,017	0.2	38,403	0.7	54,420	0.4
Sheffield	113,920	1.0	152,458	1.8	266,378	1.3
Shropshire	8,019	0.1	27,593	0.6	35,612	0.3
Slough	25,687	0.9	22,578	1.1	48,265	1.0
Solihull	11,321	0.2	23,330	0.5	34,651	0.4
Somerset	23,354	0.2	39,978	0.5	63,332	0.3
South Gloucestershire	18,155	0.3	58,487	1.4	76,642	0.7
South Tyneside	5,051	0.1	14,009	0.4	19,060	0.3
Southampton	36,341	0.8	38,365	1.1	74,706	0.9
Southend	24,865	0.7	40,652	1.4	65,517	1.0
Southwark	84,689	1.6	55,399	1.9	140,088	1.7
St. Helens	9,109	0.2	35,031	1.0	44,140	0.6
Staffordshire	39,798	0.2	86,304	0.5	126,102	0.4
Stockport	32,670	0.5	50,048	1.0	82,718	0.7
Stockton on Tees	6,311	0.1	23,333	0.6	29,644	0.3
Stoke on Trent	29,378	0.5	50,435	1.2	79,813	0.8
Suffolk	25,476	0.2	80,462	0.6	105,938	0.4
Sunderland	12,809	0.2	57,674	1.0	70,483	0.6
Surrey	50,539	0.2	108,267	0.7	158,806	0.5
Sutton	14,316	0.4	13,892	0.4	28,208	0.4
Swindon	16,281	0.4	26,873	0.8	43,154	0.5
Tameside	13,743	0.2	51,592	1.1	65,335	0.6
Telford and Wrekin	18,481	0.5	28,057	1.0	46,538	0.7
Thurrock	21,849	0.6	32,237	1.3	54,086	0.9
Torbay	7,226	0.3	21,494	1.0	28,720	0.6
Tower Hamlets	77,542	1.5	97,731	2.5	175,273	2.0
Trafford	12,377	0.2	31,455	0.7	43,832	0.5
Wakefield	46,449	0.6	41,679	0.7	88,128	0.6
Walsall	44,614	0.7	42,750	0.8	87,364	0.7
Waltham Forest	36,280	0.7	52,773	1.4	89,053	1.0
Wandsworth	26,960	0.6	20,973	0.8	47,933	0.7
Warrington	13,082	0.3	20,231	0.5	33,313	0.4
Warwickshire	20,301	0.2	61,075	0.7	81,376	0.4
West Berkshire	7,525	0.2	10,884	0.4	18,409	0.3
West Sussex	37,578	0.2	80,898	0.7	118,476	0.4
Westminster, City of	19,135	0.9	63,464	3.1	82,599	2.0
Wigan	25,307	0.3	64,573	1.0	89,880	0.6
Wiltshire	30,471	0.3	46,427	0.6	76,898	0.5
Windsor and Maidenhead	9,608	0.4	14,908	0.6	24,516	0.5
Wirral	29,395	0.4	37,838	0.6	67,233	0.5
Wokingham	10,007	0.3	10,284	0.4	20,291	0.3
Wolverhampton	42,545	0.7	55,442	1.3	97,987	0.9
Worcestershire	32,772	0.3	84,509	0.8	117,281	0.6
York, City of	12,444	0.3	23,224	1.1	35,668	0.6
England	5,223,695	0.5	9,164,962	1.0	14,388,657	0.7

26 Feb 2001 : Column: 345W

26 Feb 2001 : Column: 345W

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