House of Commons - Home Affairs

Select Committee on Home Affairs Written Evidence

Annex B

LOCAL AUTHORITY RESPONSES TO FURTHER QUERIES FROM THE HOME AFFAIRS SELECT COMMITTEE ABOUT FORCED MARRIAGE/CHILDREN NOT RECEIVING SUITABLE EDUCATION

The information in this document has been provided, via regional Government Offices, by 14 local authorities. The information was provided as evidence to support the answer to the following question asked by the Committee:

(b) What precisely is being done by the 14 authorities to follow up those children identified as "not in suitable education", and to assess how many of the total number are at risk of forced marriage?

BLACKBURN WITH DARWEN

We already have set procedures for any pupils who we consider are "Children Missing Education". Any pupils who go on extended leave without notifying the Local Authority (LA) fall into this category. We have attached our policies on Children Missing Education and Extended Leave with this submission and the actions we take are fully explained in these policies. Schools will notify their Education Welfare Officer (EWO) of any child missing without a satisfactory explanation and the EWO will complete a home visit, check with neighbours and then refer to the Senior Education Welfare Officer (Safeguarding SEWO) who will then begin the procedures with partner agencies. In addition to the practice described in the policies we have now agreed with Lancashire Constabulary that all pupils will routinely be reported to the Police. The draft changes to this policy are currently awaiting ratification.

The reasons we did not consider these pupils to be at risk of forced marriage are:

— the age and gender of the pupils concerned—in our experience primary school male pupils would not be detained abroad in order to be married;

— as set out in our policy the enquiries made in and around school did not indicate concerns or intelligence that these pupils were at risk; and

— the community based "intelligence" gave no indication of concern.

When a child is absent due to leave of absence and does not return on the specified date and parents have not made contact with the LA the school checks with the contacts they have on file for the child, with extended family and friends. The school then refer to their EWO who completes a home and neighbourhood check. Following this they discuss with the school whether there are still remaining concerns and check also partner agency involvement and intelligence on previous behaviour including other members of the extended family.

Only when these enquiries have been satisfactorily concluded will the child be uploaded onto the common transfer file and onto the lost pupil database. Schools are aware that they must contact the LA when a child requests admission and in addition, the LA will then send alerts out to schools at monthly intervals and checks the admissions database to ascertain if these children have returned and been admitted to any of our schools.

Blackburn with Darwen is keen to work in partnership with the Forced Marriage Unit to address issues for our young people both in and beyond school. We have also arranged to meet with our Children's Service Advisor at Government North West whether there are broader initiatives we could be involved with which would also support the learning of other similar authorities.

Following a review prompted by the issues raised we are arranging to meet with a broad range of partners including FE, Independent Schools and Community Groups to ensure that there is clarity around policies and procedures for post-16 young people. This will complement existing work with the independent sector for example we are running a Child Protection conference specifically for independent providers next month and Forced Marriage is within the programme.

(Blackburn with Darwen also provided a copy of their Extended Leave Policy 2007 and a copy of their Procedures and Protocol for Children Missing Education.)

BIRMINGHAM

Why is the figure so large?

It was previously reported that as of 5 March 2008 a total of 250 children in this Local Authority were known to the CME Officer to be without suitable education. This figure represents a snapshot provided at the time and will inevitably change on a daily basis as we are constantly receiving new referrals and also ensuring the suitable educational placement of those referred.

It needs to be borne in mind that as at January 2007, there were 433 LEA maintained schools with 177,670 pupils. Therefore this number of children missing from education is a very small percentage.

The breakdown of the reasons for the 250 children being without suitable education was as follows:

— 96 children had left their former schools and were without trace (missing pupils). These were children who have been continuously absent from school for a period of not less than 20 days and where reasonable enquiry by the proprietor of the school and the Local Authority (EWS) had failed to ascertain the current location of the pupil (The Education (Pupil Registration) Regulations 2006, Sect 8 (1f,h.).

Pupil Connect

— 81 children's parents were known to be receiving guidance and support to access a school placement via the Education Welfare Service and the Admissions and Appeals Service. The majority of these children were newly arrived to the city, mainly from abroad, whose parents may have had limited understanding of English and had been unable to secure school places.

— 20 elective home-educated children (there are 285 currently registered in the LA) appeared, following initial enquiries, not to be in receipt of suitable education, and were referred to the Educating Otherwise Team.

Pupil Connect

What actions are being taken to reduce this number?

Birmingham LA has an established CME policy and lead officer. The CME officer is a member of the Education Welfare Service Pupil Connect Team and works under the direction of the EOTAS, and Safeguarding in Schools lead officer. All the above arrangements are held within the Inclusion Services of the Children, Young People and Families Directorate.

All of these children are/have been followed up by appropriate officers of the Local Authority and this takes the form of:

— Ensuring that children are in receipt of suitable education by the initiation of School Attendance Order procedures, by the EWS where parents are suspected of failing in their responsibility to secure this.

Pupil Connect

— Guidance to all schools on the admission of foreign national children produced in collaboration with the Borders and Immigration Agency. This includes key contacts for reporting children at risk/of concern. (Appendix 1.)

The education (Pupil Registration) Regulations

— Publicity leaflets, in English and other community languages, have been widely distributed to our partner agencies/services to alert other professionals and members of the public to CME including key contacts for children who are not in receipt of education.

— In the case of electively home educated children, where it appears that a child is not in receipt of suitable education (in so far as we are able to determine under current legislation and guidelines) parents are given the opportunity to address specific concerns with our Home Education Advisor, including requests for parents to provide written reports (although they are under no duty to do so). Following this, where it still appears that a home educated child is not in receipt of suitable education; referral is made to the Education Social Worker specialising in elective home education to consider follow up around support with securing a mainstream school place or through School Attendance Order proceedings.

Safeguarding Admissions, Education, Training and Employment

Missing Children

(Birmingham also provided a copy of their Guidance to all schools on the admission of foreign national children and a copy of their guidelines issued to all their schools to prevent pupils from being removed from school rolls in contravention of the Education (Pupil Registration) Regulations)

BRADFORD

Bradford's understanding of why are the figures so large

Education Bradford issued robust procedures and guidelines to all schools in September 2006, which have raised awareness about children missing education (CME). Schools are now able to manage this issue more effectively and refer appropriately to Education Bradford. All services within Education Bradford work closely with The Education Social Work Service to identify of children missing from education. A national network of "Named Persons" for Children Missing Education means information and new referrals can be quickly shared between Local Authorities.

Detailed breakdown of how this number is arrived at for Bradford

All Children Missing Education referrals are recorded on a database (EMS). EMS is able to produce reports relating to CME cases—number of cases and referral type—and allows workers and managers to manage cases effectively. The Out of School Register is a live "database" and is updated on a daily basis as new cases are opened and cases are closed. Our "snapshots" of the Out of School Register included in recent reports demonstrates the continuous changing nature of the register.

Statistics from the Out of School Register (number of cases, number of cases open longer than two months etc) are reported monthly to Education Bradford Leadership Team. Cases open longer than two months are reviewed by the worker and line manager.

Tables 2 and 3 below show a detailed analysis of phase, gender and ethnicity of pupils in two referral categories on 19 March 2008.

Table 2

MISSING CHILDREN 19 MARCH 2008 CASES OPEN MORE THAN TWO MONTHS


Primary			Secondary
Ethnicity	Female	Male	Ethnicity	Female	Male
	2	4		6	8

AOP			AOP		1
AMI			AMI
BLF	1		BLF
NOT	1	2	NOT	4	3
WHA			WHA		1
WHB		2	WHB	1	3
WHT			WHT	1

Table 3

REMOVED FROM ROLL FOLLOWING EXTENDED LEAVE 19 MARCH 2008 CASES OPEN MORE THAN TWO MONTHS


Primary			Secondary

Ethnicity	Female	Male	Ethnicity	Female	Male
	2	3		0	3
AOP			AOP		1
AMI		3	AMI		2
BLF			BLF
NOT			NOT
WHA	1		WHA
WHB			WHB
WHT			WHT

In respect of Missing Children our standard letter to partner agencies is sent out is soon as possible following referral requesting information regarding the child and families whereabouts. A visit to the last known address is also undertaken if the referring school have not done this or it is unconfirmed if the family have moved. Other Local Authorities are contacted if there is some information that they have moved to another authority (even if there is only a suspicion of this). If after six weeks the child has still not been located we once again contact by letter our partner agencies to inform them that we still have not been able to locate the child and their family and ask the agencies to once again check their records for any information they have acquired in the intervening period.

Children removed from roll following an extended leave of absence—intervention is assessed on a case by case basis and based on the information gathered at the time of referral. Contact is made with the child's family or extended family (by a home visit) to try establish when the child will return. If an expected return date is established then a return visit will be planned to assist the family finding a new school placement. If a probable return date cannot be established then staff continue to regularly (three weekly) visit the address to establish contact and if possible gather new information. Decisions are made in conjunction with the workers line manager on a case by case basis regarding continued intervention or possible case closure.

If at anytime either prior to the child going on leave of absence or while the child is away there is suspicion that the child is at risk or is a victim of a crime then an appropriate referral to the child protection unit is made.

If as part of our investigations we establish that there are no plans for the child to return and there is no known risk then the case will be closed—this decision will be taken by a Senior/Line manager.

Action being taken in Bradford to reduce this number

The responsibility for Children Missing Education cases is held by the Education Social Work Service. Education Social Workers, Education Welfare Officers and Attendance Support Assistants all have Children Missing Education cases as part of their work; this caseload is overseen and reviewed regularly by the worker's line manager. The Education Social Work Service has agreed procedures for dealing with each referral type.

The profile of children missing education has been raised considerably following the introduction of the statutory responsibility for all LA's. Closer interdepartmental working and inter agency working has increased awareness of the CME agenda and has contributed to more children being identified as not in education particularly case of children living within the authority and not on the roll of a school (495 referrals in 2007). The introduction of robust procedures has resulted in children being quickly accessed into appropriate education provision.

Procedures and strategies for identifying and tracking children missing education are continually being reviewed and updated based on practical experience. Developing further the links between appropriate agencies is ongoing.

Our success criteria is to ensure a child is accessed into education as soon as possible. Any remaining outstanding after two months are our top priority and monitored through Monthly Key Performance Indicators.

What other concrete mechanisms do schools in Bradford have to follow up cases where teachers are concerned the student maybe at risk of a forced marriage?

Schools were made aware of the mechanisms for missing children through the publication of When a Child Goes Missing in September 2006.

The issue of Forced marriages is covered in the Named Persons Child Protection two day course. Courses that deal specifically with Forced Marriages are run by the Safeguarding board. Details of all courses run by Education Bradford and the Safeguarding Board are circulated to schools.

Child Protection Training for Named Persons covers all aspects of child abuse in respect of understanding and responding to possible signs of child abuse and the appropriate and agreed action to take. This includes forced marriages.

Training for Named Persons and "refresher" training is monitored by Education Bradford.

Bradford Safeguarding Board runs a course on Forced Marriages as part of its multi-agency training and this course is open to school and Education Bradford staff.

The document Forced Marriage Advice for Schools and Education Bradford Staff is on the Bradfordschools.net website. This document is also distributed during Child Protection training.

More recently colleagues/professionals have been referred to the Bradford Safeguarding Board website to inter-agency procedures "5.1.22 Forced Marriages".

What precisely is being done by the Bradford Council to follow up those children identified as "not being in suitable education" and to assess how many of the total number are at risk of forced marriage?

Education Bradford feels that it has robust policies and procedures to follow up all children who are identified as missing from education. Information sharing agreements exist between Education Bradford, Bradford Safeguarding Board, West Yorkshire Police, Health Services, Council Welfare Benefits and Housing to establish where possible the whereabouts of missing children.

School age children living in Bradford and not on the roll of a school once identified are contacted, support and advice is given to the families in order that they can access their children into school. School Attendance Orders can also be used where the parents are not making reasonable efforts to access their children to education.

Where a child has been removed from roll when they have failed to return from leave of absence, the Education Social Work Service maintains regular contact with the family or extended family to establish the reason for non-return and likely return date. Support is given to the family once the child has retuned to access them back into an appropriate education provision.

If a child goes missing or prior to a trip abroad if the school believe that there is a risk to the child's welfare or they believe the child is a victim of a crime then an immediate referral is made to the Child Protection Unit (CPU). Although "copies" of referrals made to CPU by schools are sent to Education Bradford we do not record the nature of the referral. Link ESW's/EWO's are made aware that a Child Protection Referral has been made and are encouraged to read it.

BRISTOL

(The return from Bristol was written by GO South West, but the analysis and the figures quoted were signed off by Bristol's Director of Children's Services.)

Why is the figure so large? Can you provide a detailed breakdown of how this number is arrived at? And what action is being taken to reduce this number?

Bristol defines CME as including all pupils whose school attendance is very poor (5% or below) on the reasonable assumption that these children are vulnerable and at risk of becoming lost to the system.

— 133 (57 secondary, 72 primary and four Special Schools) of the 155 pupils previously reported are accounted for in this way. They are at the sharp end of the school attendance problem in Bristol.

These 133 pupils are known by the Education Welfare Service and have individual Personal Attendance Plans. Appropriate sanctions are enforced eg fixed penalty notices, court procedures etc if necessary.

Of the remaining 22 pupils reported:

— Six pupils are classified as missing education due to the poor quality of education provided at home. Statutory Attendance Orders have been initiated, or are being initiated, to ensure that these pupils attend a school.

— Nine pupils are classified as missing because they are off-roll and not attending a school. These children are all known to the Authority. Eight have been given course work and places have been identified for them, either in school or with an alternative provider. One pupil has moved to Birmingham and the Authority is awaiting confirmation of that child starting school there.

— Four pupils have been identified as missing education due to extended school holidays. Of these, one Year 11 pupil has recently been placed in secure accommodation. One Year 10 pupil has now secured a place at a local secondary school. Two pupils are Year 7 brothers of Tanzanian origin. The Education Welfare Service has contacted the GP, Primary Care Trust, relatives, social care and Neighbouring Local Authorities. The boys have been placed on the S2S national data base. A risk assessment, including enquiries in the local community, indicates that they have moved back to Tanzania are not likely to be at risk. The Council Tax office confirms this.

— Three pupils who are classified as missing education are new arrivals. The Council is currently liaising with the National Association of Asylum Seekers and with its own Asylum and Refugee Reception Point to contact these families once they arrive. This is routine. Of these three children, one is a Y5 white female, one is a Y5 female Black African and one is a Y7 white male. None is at likely risk of forced marriage.

The evidence suggests that Bristol is on top of the CME issue. There is no evidence that any of current or recent CME are at risk of forced marriage. This view is supported by anecdotal evidence from the network of family support workers based in Bristol's schools and working with the various BME communities. The Pakistani and Bangladeshi pupil population in Bristol, whilst significant, is comparatively small (3.6% of Year 11), and there are no known cases of forced marriages.

GOSW is satisfied that the Council takes the issue of any child missing education seriously. It is in the process of identifying a specialist to track children missing education as part of the attendance service. It is also establishing BME Ambassadors who will represent their communities and work with the Authority on a range of sensitive culturally-related concerns including Forced Marriages and Female Genital Mutilation. The LSCB is engaged in this process.

Nursery to Year 11 pupils from each ethnic group (Plasc 2008 PROVISIONAL)


	Bristol (Nursery to Year 11)
	Number	Percentage

All Bristol	45,883	—
BME	12,552	27.4
White British	33,331	72.6
White Irish	151	0.3
White Irish Traveller	33	0.1
Gypsy/Roma	9	0.0
White Eastern European	648	1.4
White Western European	391	0.9
White Other	733	1.6
Mixed White and Black Caribbean	1,340	2.9
Mixed White and Black African	266	0.6
Mixed White and Asian	365	0.8
Mixed Other	1,076	2.3
Black Caribbean	1,029	2.2
Black African (excl Black Somali)	491	1.1
Black Somali	1,749	3.8
Black Other	528	1.2
Indian	801	1.7
Pakistani	1,279	2.8
Bangladeshi	370	0.8
Asian Other	527	1.1
Chinese	188	0.4
Other Ethnic Group	291	0.6
Not Obtained	154	0.3
Refused	133	0.3

DERBY

Previously 121 reported as CME—Why is figure so large?

After detailed analysis of the numbers of children reported to be missing in Derby we have been able to locate all but 12 of the original 121 reported missing children. Many of these children have been reported missing to the lost pupil data base but their details have not been uploaded by receiving schools thus giving a false impression that these children are missing. The incorrect use of this data base is a national issue. We have taken steps to remind Derby schools of the correct procedures to be followed.

Detailed breakdown of the 12 remaining

The age, ethnicity and gender of the 12 missing children are recorded as:

— Male, 18-05-02, any other ethnic background (eastern European);

— Male, 12-12-93, any other ethnic background (eastern European);

— Female, 22-02-93, White Irish;

— Female, 22-9-91, White British;

— Female, 22-12-04, White British;

— Male, 17-4-01, Black African;

— Female, 15-9-98m Black African;

— Female, 05-01-00, Black African;

— Male, 19-9-96, Any other ethnic background (eastern European);

— Female, 11-4-99, any other ethnic background, (eastern European);

— Male, 27-05-99, Gypsy/Roma; and

— Female, 12-05-04, White British.

Currently the following efforts are being made with external agencies to try and track down these children:

— letter to chief constable to alert police;

— write to benefits agency; and

— talk to LAs where they think a family might have moved to based on any anecdotal evidence that might have come from neighbours/school.

We will keep these cases open, and act on any leads or intelligence gleaned to follow up.

LANCASHIRE

First: Why is figure so large?

Just to put the figure of 149 pupils in context, Lancashire is a very large local authority. 149 pupils out of the 146,000 Lancashire primary and secondary pupil population equates to 0.1%. Of the other authorities named, Middlesbrough at 23 equates to 0.15%, Waltham Forest at 31 equates to 0.1%, whereas Manchester at 385 equates to 0.74% and Leeds at 520 equates to 0.6% of the pupil population. Lancashire thus has a relatively low proportion of CME pupils. However, we do accept that for each of these individual pupils it is vital that relevant action is taken to engage them in appropriate education.

The breakdown below shows how the 149 is made up, and the action being taken in each category to reduce the number:

— 27 are receiving education at home that is judged not to be suitable (referred by EWS and Elective Home Education teams).

Action

This is a complex area, as the lack of statutory powers to generally oversee such provision and the absence of a clear definition of what constitutes appropriate education for these children and young people means it is not always easy to reach a conclusion as to whether provision is such that the local authority's duty to investigate should be triggered. However, in these cases School Attendance Orders have been initiated in appropriate instances, and in others further informal enquiries are underway which will inform a decision on whether or not to initiate School Attendance Order proceedings. In those cases where parents have indicated an acceptance of the assessment, assistance is being offered to help these parents to return their children to mainstream education.

— 45 are refusing to access the alternative provision set up for them (whether this is college placement, SEN provision (NTAS), Short Stay School, etc).

Action

Where provision is available but not being accessed because of actions or inactions of parents, School Attendance Order proceedings are being explored when the provision is a school. In those instances where provision is other than at school, further work is taking place with parents and partner agencies to encourage the take up of the provision on offer, or to review whether alternative arrangements should be considered.

— 58 are awaiting assessment to access a service or are entirely new to the area and six currently have no PRS provision (due to over capacity) (41 pupils were notified to us by the pupil reintegration service as being on their "waiting list" for full time provision and 23 recently moved into Lancashire).

Action

For new to area pupils many cases are resolved through the school admissions appeals panels. For SEN cases EPS assessments are undertaken where necessary to assist in the identification of appropriate provision and access to placements and/or support. Work is also undertaken to support the integration of pupils from our Short Stay Schools back into mainstream schools, through "In Year Fair Access" protocols and dual registration options, in order to free places for those pupils awaiting admission to Short Stay Schools following exclusion. For some extremely challenging pupils detailed risk assessments are undertaken to identify provision whilst maintaining the safety of staff and other pupils, which may include supervised distance learning.

— Three are missing altogether (attempts to locate one of these pupils were unsuccessful and this pupil has now been referred to the police. However, two pupils have now been located and their whereabouts recorded and monitored).

Action

We have robust procedures for tracing pupils who have gone missing—in 2004-05 82% of missing pupils were located whereas in 2006-07 96.2% of all pupils identified as going missing from Lancashire schools were traced. We are developing our protocols for the involvement of the police in those small number of cases where our enquiries have not resulted in missing pupils being located.

— Seven are off roll and awaiting a new school place, due to appeal, etc (notified by the admissions team).

Action

Where pupils have been removed from roll outside of the criteria set out in the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006 the Local Authority has a protocol for challenging unlawful removal from roll and requiring a pupil to be reinstated on the school's admissions register. In those instances where a pupil has been excluded, parents have declined a place at a Short Stay School and expressed a preference for another mainstream school, these are resolved either through the "In Year Fair Access" protocol, or through the school admissions appeal process.

— Three have never started a primary school at all (age five or six) (identified by the county CME officer).

Action

Initial enquiries are undertaken to establish whether these pupils are in fact being educated otherwise than at school, in which case details are placed on the Elective Home Education database. In other instances, parents are advised on places in their locality, assisted with appeals as appropriate, and ultimately if necessary consideration would be given to School Attendance Order proceedings.

Of the 149 on the list referred to 52 have already been removed, meaning that 97 pupils are still CME although other names have since been added.

Children at risk of forced marriage

I trust the information above identifies the work undertaken to follow up those children identified as "not in suitable education". In response to your question regarding the number of CME pupils at risk of forced marriage, our assessment is that none of the 149 pupils on our list are at risk of forced marriage.

Regarding extended leave, in most instances the LA is not aware when children take extended leave as the request and decision to allow are entirely a matter for the school—this is a direct result of the way the legislation is framed. It is therefore difficult for the authority to consider the risk to such children; in most instances we would not have any knowledge of the circumstances. The only occasions when the LA generally becomes aware of a pupil taking extended leave are where the school refuses the request and the child goes anyway, and school requests a penalty notice, or where a child fails to return at the end of the agreed period of leave. In this case the pupil is referred for further enquiries to be made. If in the course of those enquiries concerns were identified regarding the young person being at risk of forced marriage, the relevant Lancashire Safeguarding Children Procedures would be invoked (www.Lancashire.gov.uk/safeguardingchildrenboard/).

In considering the question "is it a forced marriage case" all local authority personnel are required to follow the guidance issued by the Home Office, along with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office guidance for Education Professionals Dealing with Cases of Forced Marriage, and the guidance in the DCSF documents Working Together to Safeguard Children (2006) and Safeguarding Children and Safer Recruitment in Education.(2007) If in doubt advice would be sought from the local police and/or the Forced Marriage Unit.

In addition, in light of the new focus on schools' awareness of the issue of forced marriage, we are amending our guidance to schools on managing requests for holidays and extended leave in term time to remind schools to consider whether forced marriage is likely to be an issue in those instances where extended leave is requested. School staff are made aware of these issues via a rolling programme of safeguarding training which is firmly underpinned by DfES/DCSF and LSCB guidance and procedures. In the event that concerns do emerge they are required to follow Lancashire's Safeguarding Children Procedures (2007).[322] Where doubt remains advice is available from a number of sources including the Children's Integrated Services' Safeguarding Unit and Police.

It is important to note, however, that there will always be instances where pupils are removed from roll because parents have elected either to move as a family to live abroad, or where individual pupils go to live abroad. In the absence of any pre-existing concerns regarding the likelihood of forced marriage, it is necessary for the local authority to be very careful of questioning what are perfectly valid decisions by families regarding their personal lives. We also have cases where families have been identified as missing, subsequently located as living abroad—even in some cases with confirmation from schools in Pakistan that the pupils have been registered there—and these pupils would not in fact feature on our missing pupils lists or our CME lists but their details would rather be placed on the relevant DCSF database.

LEEDS

As at 7 March 2008, Leeds had 520 Children Missing Education (CME). Why is this figure so large?

From the outset, Leeds has consistently taken a prudent approach to the recording and monitoring of Children Missing Education. The rigorous and progressive arrangements put in place typically exaggerates the true figure of children resident in Leeds who are not accessing appropriate education. Until either the whereabouts of a child is confirmed and the child is deemed to be accessing suitable education, or exhaustive investigations have been completed including a check of the child protection register by social care, Education Leeds retain it as an open case.

Please also note, our 520 figure includes 100 children whose whereabouts could not be absolutely confirmed after thorough investigation, which included enquires through social care with the child protection register (as set out in our CME Case Closure Protocol—appendix 4). Our enquiries indicate that 99 of the 100 have left the country. The one remaining child could not be traced, despite detailed multi-agency involvement and tracking both regionally and nationally.

Can you provide a detailed breakdown of how this figure has been reached?

Of our 520 CME Children:

— 240 were referred as potentially being both not accessing suitable education and suspected as missing from a known address as at the date of their referral;

— 257 were suspected as potentially not accessing approved educational provision; and

— 23 were in Elective Home Education (EHE) which the Authority is actively monitoring as per agreed policy and proceedings.

Of the 520, 420 are actively being followed up by the Local Authority's CME Team and designated case workers.

What action is being taken to reduce this number?

In September 2006, new Children Missing Education Procedures were implemented across all Leeds schools, replacing the previous Mislocated Children's policy, as this did not encompass several groups of vulnerable children who were missing education, or, indeed were at risk of missing education.

This coincided with the establishment of a CME Team, managed jointly by the Attendance Strategy Team Leader and the Data and Information Services Manager. The team consists of four full-time members of staff and one additional officer providing strategic and operational advice on an ad-hoc basis. The collaboration between practitioner involvement and the use of information has made the work of this team a significant success; and the CME team in Leeds is held up as an exemplar of good practice across the Yorkshire and Humber region.

All CME referrals are recorded electronically and proactively tracked by the Children Missing Education Team, with multi-agency co-operation across Leeds. Every open CME referral has an allocated Lead Professional, who is responsible for ensuring enquiries and the case are progressed.

Approval has been reached to integrate processes and share electronic records with the following agencies:

— Children In Vulnerable Accommodation (CHIVA) project.

— Independent Schools;

— Leeds City Council Refugee & Asylum Seeker Support service.

— Leeds PCT.

— Police (via Truancy patrols, etc).

In raising awareness, the inaugural Education Leeds Children Missing Education Conference took place on 22 March 2007 at Elland Road, attended by 139 Schools, Services, Agencies and other LA representatives. Following this success, the second Children Missing Education conference is planned in Leeds on 30 April 2008.

Relevant key partner agencies include:

— Education (maintained schools, independent schools, Academies, PRUs and Special Schools);

— Attendance Strategy Team;

— Education Leeds' Data Management team;

— Children's Social Care;

— Health (Strategic Health Authorities, Primary Care Trust).

— Police and Police Authorities.

— Youth Offending teams.

— Housing.

— CHIVA (Children In Vulnerable Accommodation) Project;

— Connexions;

— Immigration Service;

— Voluntary and Community Organisations;

— Other local Authorities (CME network);

— School secretaries, administration/designate persons;

— Homeless hostels;

— Accident and Emergency;

— NHS walk-in Services;

— Health visitors; and the

— General Public.

For those children potentially missing, one or more of the following investigative activities are carried out:

— Visits to last known addresses.

— Contact to other family members and neighbours.

— Contact with other relevant agencies, such as other Education Services, Social Services Police and Benefits.

— Systematic liaison with other Local Authorities across the country.

— Tracing through use of other electronic resources/databases, such as School To School (S2S) website, Key To Success, etc.

— Liaising with local PCT to trace families who may register with GPs in other parts of the city/country.

— Liaising with National Asylum Seeker Service (NASS) and Home Office, as well as local Asylum Seeker Services.

— Working with both Local Authority and Private housing/accommodation providers.

In addition, whilst we acknowledge that the deployment of Contact Point during early-2009 will provide significant advantage in locating the whereabouts of a high proportion of "missing children", the Authority still seeks to enter into formal dialogue with the Home Office/Immigration Service to enable a clearer picture to be obtained.

What other concrete mechanisms do schools have to follow up cases where teachers are concerned the student may be at risk of forced marriage?

Education Leeds strategy with regard to forced marriages is embedded within the Safeguarding Agenda.

Our strategy was launched in April 2007 and sent out to all schools. The processes and protocols are based upon recommendations in Working Together 2006. They were developed in partnership with colleagues across the West Yorkshire consortium. It was agreed and actively encouraged by West Yorkshire police that all authorities come together to agree procedures that will be implemented by all Authorities across West Yorkshire. Education Leeds agreed with this and continues to be an active partner in developments across the consortium.

As per the agreed protocol all initial referrals are made to the Designated Teacher for Child Protection in schools. Once the designated teacher has received the referral this is automatically pass through to Social Services and the process highlighted in Appendix 1. Systems are in place to monitor through our Safeguarding Agenda and are based on partnership working and the DCSF guidance. Further examples of our guidance and procedures is provided in Appendices 2-4.

The Education Leeds Child Protection file includes the following section:

Forced Marriages

43. Forced marriage is a marriage conducted without the full consent of both parties and where duress is a factor. It is an entirely separate issue from arranged marriage, and the two things should not be confused. Forced marriage is a human rights abuse and falls within the Crown Prosecution Service definition of domestic violence. Young people at risk of a forced marriage may be experiencing emotional and/or physical abuse at home.

44. The FCO and DfES have produced practical guidance for education professionals, "Dealing with Cases of Forced Marriage" which is available at www.fco.gov.uk

45. If there are concerns that a child (male or female) is in danger of a forced marriage, schools and FE institutions should contact the Government's Forced Marriage Unit, where experienced caseworkers are able to offer support and guidance (www.fco.gov.uk or 020 7008 0230). The police and children's social care should also be contacted. All those involved should bear in mind that mediation as a response to forced marriage can be extremely dangerous. Refusal to go through with a forced marriage has, in the past, been linked to so-called "honour crimes".

46. The flow chart on page 78 is taken from Young People and Vulnerable Adults facing Forced Marriage: Practice Guidance for Social Workers (www.teachernet.gov.uk/childprotection/guidance.htm) and shows the steps that are followed in dealing with cases of forced marriage.

There is a close link with our Children Missing Education procedures in relation to those pupils that aren't immediately found through our internal CME procedures and are referred to the West Yorkshire police; Social Care and the Safeguarding Board.

What precisely is being done by the authority to follow up those children identified as not being "in suitable education" and to assess how many are at risk of forced marriage (including consideration of the 100 referrals to the Leeds Safeguarding Board)?

For those children deemed not to be accessing suitable education, one or more of the following activities is undertaken:

— The CME team and designated case workers work directly with the Education Leeds' Admissions and Transport team, where there is a named officer providing dedicated support for these children and young people to access a school place.

— The CME team (and Admissions and Transport team) works progressively with the five Area Management Boards (and other partners) to plan a reintegration package to facilitate placement for both the child and receiving school.

— A dedicated Asylum Seeker and Refugee Officer is in place to support International New Arrivals in over-coming barriers to receiving suitable education.

— The Local Authority provides a framework of legal intervention, such as School Attendance Orders.

— The Leeds Parent Partnership and Choice Advice Teams provide independent expert support and advocacy services to parents, carers and their families.

To date none of the children referred to Education Leeds as CME have been identified as being at significant risk of forced marriages. As part of this check Education Leeds asked social care to check whether the 100 cases identified were children already known through the child protection register.

The monitoring of CME is included in the LSCB Business Plan as a component of the Multi Agency Performance Management Framework.

Children's Services and Education Leeds are developing links with the Government's Forced Marriages Unit and would welcome further dialogue on reducing the risks to young people of forced marriages.

Education Leeds have taken the opportunity to be involved previously and are currently in consultation with the DCSF around Forced Marriages and Children Missing Education. Education Leeds Officers are willing to have further discussions with the Select Committee if they would like further information.

We know from feedback from DCSF centrally and from the regional Children Missing in Education Group that locally and Nationally we are regarded as leading best practice in relation to CME. If you require any further information please do not hesitate to contact Carol Jordan on 0113 247 5641 Director of Inclusion and Integrated Children's Services for Education Leeds.

(Leeds also provided a copy of their process for referral to Social Services and extracts from their guidance and procedures.)

LEICESTER

Follow up on figures previously reported—294 children missing education.

Why is figure so large?

One reason why this figure seems large in comparison to other areas may be because of the methodology used when trawling records. The city conducted a thorough check of over 13,000 historical records. The database is comprehensive and will include names of children who have at some point accessing provision in the area, for example three and four young olds in nursery provision, but not moved on to City schools or moved to private education. The City does experience a high rate of cross border traffic with Leicestershire County Council which surrounds the City area.

Detailed breakdown of the 294

— 261 are untraced despite extensive action taken (112 of these are cases that relate to dates prior to the new duty),

— 19 children who are known to be in the area and the Education Welfare Service are working towards them starting at a school,

— five are being placed by a Student Placement Panel (Hard to Place), and

— nine are statemented and awaiting placement.

The figures are derived as a result of trawling the entire database for children of statutory school age where no current school is indicated. For all such records, extensive investigative work is carried out by the ONE Database team and later by the Education Welfare Service to determine the whereabouts of the child. When all investigative avenues have been pursued and the whereabouts of the child remains unknown, the child is classified as missing.

On 5 March there were 261 such cases. The figure today stands at 273 and below is a spreadsheet providing the gender and age analysis together with an ethnic profile.

The analysis has been subdivided into pre-2007 cases and those that emerged in 2007 or later. The pre-2007 cases have increased in number compared to the figure reported on 5 March. As a result of the 5 March work and subsequent FOIA requests, Leicester has refined reporting to much more accurately pick out the date of last contact with each child.

Untraced children with whom we lost contact earlier than 2007 (ie pre the statutory duty for CME)


Ethnic Classification	Girls	Boys	Total

Ethnic field is blank	56	78	134
AAFR—African Asian		1	1
AIND—Indian	5	4	9
AOTA—Other Asian	3	3	6
APKN—Pakistani	2	1	3
BAOF—Other Black African	3	3	6
BOTH—Any other Black background		3	3
BSOM—Somali	8	5	13
CHNE—Chinese	1		1
MWAS—White/Asian		2	2
MWBA—White/Black African		1	1
MWBC—White/Black Carribbea		1	1
NOBT—Info not obtained	2		2
OOTH—Any other Ethnic Group	4	6	10
REFU—Refused	1		1
Traveller—Irish Heritage	1		1
WBRI—British	4	1	5
WEUR—White European		2	2
WIRI—Irish	1	1	2
WOTW—Other White		1	1
WROM—Roma/Roma Gypsy	1	1	2
Total	92	114	206

Untraced children with whom we lost contact in 2007 or later (ie after the statutory duty for CME)


Ethnic Classification	Girls	Boys	Total

Ethnic field is blank	32	26	58
AIND—Indian		1	1
BAOF—Other Black African	1		1
BOTH—Any other Black background		1	1
CHNE—Chinese		1	1
NOBT—Info not obtained		1	1
REFU—Refused		1	1
WBRI—British	1	1	2
WOTW—Other White		1	1
Total	34	33	67

Untraced children with whom we lost contact earlier than 2007 (ie pre the statutory duty for CME)


Age as at 1 September 2007	Girls	Boys	Total

5	1	5	6
6	2	5	7
7	8	15	23
8	7	6	13
9	8	15	23
10	3	17	20
11	8	12	20
12	16	13	29
13	12	11	23
14	16	8	24
15	11	7	18
Total	92	114	206

Untraced children with whom we lost contact in 2007 or later (ie after the statutory duty for CME)


Age as at 1 September 2007	Girls	Boys	Total

5	1	1	2
6	3	4	7
7	3	4	7
8	2	3	5
9	8	7	15
10	3	2	5
11	3	2	5
12	3	3	6
13	2	1	3
14	3	2	5
15	3	4	7
Total	34	33	67

Action being taken to reduce this number

After interrogation of the database, steps are then taken to trace all children not located prior to classifying them as missing including:

— home visits;

— talking to neighbours;

— checks with housing officers;

— following up siblings records for those in education;

— NHS GP registrations;

— connexions service follow up for older young people; and

— checks with social care and safeguarding officers.

In the past they have been able to seek information from the Benefits Agency, but due to the volume of requests, BA is now refusing to cooperate unless there is a specific child protection issue.

Leicester City has issued guidance for schools on children missing education procedures and forced marriage (both attached). There is some anecdotal evidence of Head Teachers talking to individual young women about to go on holiday overseas to ascertain if they have any concerns about the possibility of forced marriage.

Further information in response to Leicester's earlier return that stated, "there is absolutely no indication from any source that forced marriage could have been an issue for any of these pupils".

The attached guidance describes the procedures in place and guidance to schools on possible indicators. This earlier statement is based on evidence available, and to the best of Leicester City Council's knowledge forced marriage is not an issue for any of these pupils. No one has said anything to any professional working in any aspect of children and young people's services that might indicate any risk of forced marriage.

If a risk was identified it would then be handled as a child protection issue, in which case visits to the home would not be appropriate, but the case would be referred to social care and safeguarding.

LUTON

Contextual information

We are alert to concerns about forced marriage, particularly amongst school age pupils. We also note the view of the Forced Marriage Unit that "a typical case concerns a young girl between the ages of 16 and 24".

Dr Nazia Khanum, in her recently-published study entitled Forced marriage, family cohesion and community engagement: national learning through a case study of Luton makes a similar point about girls and forced marriage, saying "the time of greatest risk comes when they complete compulsory education at 16".

Therefore we are cautious about drawing strong conclusions around the connection between children missing education and forced marriage.

Of the 66 open cases how many were removed from roll with no named destination?

18.

Of the 66 open cases how many were not returned from extended leave during term-time and removed from school roll?

Children who have not returned from extended leave during term time on the agreed date are removed from school roll in accordance with the guidance on absence and attendance codes issued by the DCSF. They are then referred to the Education Welfare Service.

This does not of course mean that they remain abroad. There were 48 out of school referrals for the period. 38 of these referrals were made by the Schools Admissions Service, for reasons including a late return from leave abroad and parent refusing alternative school places offered for their children. A total of 10 referrals were made for new arrivals in Luton either from other areas in or out of the UK.

How are such cases followed up?

All cases referred to the CME Co-ordinator are followed up according to procedures laid down in the CME policy, which closely follows DCSF guidance.

These include the EWO making inquiries at school, home visits and inquiries with the neighbours and extended family and friends. Written inquiries are made at the last known address; children's social care databases are searched to identify the level of risk or previous safeguarding concerns. Inquiries are made with other LAs through S2S messaging.

Further inquires are made where appropriate with housing associations and departments, immigration, and health records to identify the child's location. If located elsewhere in the UK (alternative address) the local Education Welfare Service is contacted to follow up the case. Where there is a risk of significant harm, children's social care and police are asked to lead on inquiries and joint working takes place. These higher risk referrals take priority.

Could any of these be forced marriages cases?

None identified.

Is there a process for considering if these are forced marriages cases?

Within the process for identifying children missing from education, an assessment of the educational as well as welfare needs of the child is made and if there were concerns regarding the possibility of a forced marriage, the protocols for forced marriage within the Local Safeguarding Children Board would be followed.

All concerns about the safety of a child would be acted upon in accordance with the guidance contained within the local safeguarding children procedures.

How do we satisfy ourselves that these are not forced marriages?

There are robust processes in place to identify, where possible, all children at risk of harm. Local safeguarding procedures are in place and followed.

What indicators/factors do we look for?

Concerns, signs/indicators expressed by the child in school regarding their own welfare or being worried about a trip abroad, poor performance and poor attendance. General indicators of emotional and domestic abuse—living in an environment of power and control. Previous referrals/concerns expressed on safeguarding chronologies held in school or with Children's Social Care.

If a school is concerned that a child is in danger of a forced marriage, then it would follow the process described in the LSCB Safeguarding Procedures and contact Social Care immediately. Social Care would convene a strategy meeting that would include a representative of the police. One of the tasks of the strategy meeting would be to agree who would contact the Forced Marriage Unit for advice.

MANCHESTER

Reasons for the figure being so large and action being taken to reduce the number

Manchester currently includes on the CME data base all children who for any reason are not on a school roll as well as those who have been on a school roll and are reported as "missing". This practice is currently being reviewed as part of the wider Children's Services review of (i) data collection, procedures and processes in relation to mid-year admissions, (ii) the administration of In Year Fair Access protocol and (iii) tracking those children who are "missing education" and those whose "whereabouts are unknown".

Every child or young person on the CME data base has a "named worker" and the CME Officer maintains contact with the worker to check on the current status of individuals.

One particular issue for Manchester and other Authorities with high levels of migration is the issue of families moving into and out of and around the City and the potential for the whereabouts of some children to become unknown in that process. Manchester also has a significant number of International New Arrivals (INA) including refugee and asylum seekers

There are currently 367 children on the data base including:

— 77 Year 11 pupils;

— 12 young offenders released from Custody;

— 54 new to the City/Country, Travellers, Asylum Seekers;

— 28 permanently excluded;

— 129 where after four weeks continuous absence, a pupil is referred to CME Officer; and

— 44 pupils referred to CME Officer still in the process of tracking.

What mechanisms do schools have to follow-up cases where teachers are concerned that the student maybe at risk of a forced marriage?

The current advice to schools is that where they have concerns about the safety of a young person the child protection procedures must be followed and the concern should be treated as a safeguarding issue. Safeguarding and Child Protection guidance should be followed.

What is being done to identify those children "not in education" and assess how many maybe at risk of a "forced marriage"?

Schools are provided with clear guidance about the action to take should they become concerned about the whereabouts of any child or young person. All schools have a copy of the Education Pupil Registration Regulations which provide detailed advice regarding when a child or young person can be deleted from the school register. Schools must provide evidence that demonstrates reasonable enquiries have been made to locate the child. Following this further enquiries and a home visit to the last known address are carried out by a School Attendance Officer prior to the child being referred to the "Children Missing Education" (CME) Officer.

In respect of the actual number of girls whose whereabouts are currently "unknown", the figure for Manchester is 38 girls. Of these, 22 are secondary school age (11-16 years) and 10 are 14-16 years old (Year 10 and Year 11). The ethnicity of the 22 girls includes: Irish (one), Iranian (one), Other Asian (one), Other Pakistan (two), British (four), Roma (one), Nigerian (one), White European (two) and Not Known (nine).

Of the 38 girls, 20 have at one time been registered on a school roll and of these 12 are of secondary age. Names are recorded on the CME data base when schools have taken the actions outlined above. Once a child's name is recorded the CME Officer commences tracking. A request is sent to the Primary Care Trust (PCT) for information and a message is posted on "School to School" (S2S) which is a secure file transfer system available to all schools and Local Authorities. Children are only identified as "whereabouts unknown" if the PCT has no information and there is no response from S2S. There then follows a continual process of checking to see if a child or young person re-appears in Manchester/anywhere in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland or Wales.

The Local Authority developed Guidance for Schools Children Missing from Education Guidelines and Practice which was circulated to all schools and establishments in September 2006. In addition, the Local Authority is in the process of re-issuing guidance to schools: Practice Guidance for Educational Professionals and Protocol for Young People Facing Forced Marriage reminding them of the need to remain alert to the potential risk for young women of a forced marriage and action to take in these circumstances.

What are the processes for following-up children whose "whereabouts are unknown"?

Once a child or young person has been reported to the CME Officer the process of tracking begins:

— a request is sent to the Primary Care Trust (PCT) for information;

— a message is posted on School to School (S2S);

— the request to the PCT is followed up at regular intervals (two monthly) to check if the child has been located;

— if an address is provided in another town, the CME Officer will contact a CME colleague in the other Local Authority; a home visit to check will be arranged; and

— once established that a child is resident and registered on a school roll in another Local Authority, the CME and EMS database is updated.

MIDDLESBROUGH

Middlesbrough were not asked to provide further information as their original return (6 March 2008) showed 23 children judged to be not receiving a suitable education, but they knew the whereabouts of all of them and none were forced marriage cases.

NEWHAM

Newham provided figures concerning 23 children who had been identified since 1 January 2008 as missing education. None of these children were thought to be at risk of Forced Marriage. It should be added that in this authority many other children have been removed from school roles but it has been known which schools they moved to.

These figures are based on referrals received from a number of sources and if the referral is not from a school, the details are sketchy. The sources include:

— Schools where pupils leave school roles.

— Pupil Services where families make application for a school place upon moving into the Borough.

— Newham University Hospital Trust. Any child who attends A&E for whom parents are unable to supply details of a school are referred.

— The Police Merlin reports where children who are the subject of the reports are found not to be in education.

Of the 23 children identified, 12 are male. Four of these are primary age. Their dates of birth and ethnicity/nationality if known are as follows:


Date referred	Date of Birth	Ethnicity/Nationality

11 January 2008	28 December 2003	Pakistani
15 January 2008	6 July 1992	n/k
23 January 2008	11 November 1997	Spanish
25 January 2008	11 March 1994	n/k
25 January 2008	8 January 1994	n/k
25 January 2008	19 July 1995	n/k
25 January 2008	6 March 1995	n/k
12 February 2008	26 February 2002	n/k
13 February 2008	12 October 1999	Polish
27 February 2008	14 January 1992	French
27 February 2008	10 July 1992	n/k
27 February 2008	2 April 1992	n/k

10 girls have been identified. Of these, five are of primary age. Their dates of birth and ethnicity if known are as follows:


Date referred	Date of Birth	Ethnicity/Nationality

11 January 2008	4 December 2002	Pakistani
21 January 2008	9 October 2002	Asian
13 February 2008	19 February 2008	Indian
19 February 2008	17 December 1999	n/k
15 February 2008	12 February 2002	Russian

Of the remaining five, secondary age girls, one (African dob 3 September 1991) is now attending a Newham school and is no longer missing education. One child is white UK, date of birth 14 October 1991. One child is Somalian, date of birth 18 May 1995. Two young people are of appropriate age and ethnicity to raise concerns about forced marriage though there is nothing to suggest in the paperwork concerning either that anyone identified that this is an issue.

One of these young people is Indian, date of birth 1 February 1992. She moved from Dormers High School in Middlesex to live with an aunt in Newham. An application was received by Pupil Services on 10 September 2007. She was offered Forest Gate School and attended there until December. Very recent contact with her aunt indicated that she had moved back to Ealing Broadway and has attended school there since February. Further checks are being carried out.

With regard to the other, (Pakistani—date of birth 27 January 1992), she was a new entrant from Pakistan. An application was received by Pupil Services on 23 November 2007. She was offered an interview to NEWLAP, our facility for new entrants in Year 10/11. There was no response to this or an offer of a further interview. A relative has been contacted and said that the young person returned to Pakistan for the Easter Holiday break and will be in this country on 21 April 2008. Further checks and follow up are being arranged for next week

One child does not have gender recorded. This child however is of primary age—date of birth 26 February 2002.

TOWER HAMLETS

Tower Hamlets recorded 16 children as "missing" in their previous return as of 10 March 2008.

The Authority was asked "How many children are judged to be not receiving a suitable education (either currently, or at the last date for which figures are available—please ensure the date is also provided)". Our reply on 10 March was that there had been 46 children referred since September 2007, 30 of whom had been admitted to school by 10 March 2008. This left 16 cases being worked with by the Attendance and Welfare Adviser (AWA) for Children Missing Education (CME). These were all children confirmed as living in Tower Hamlets who were not currently on a school roll and this figure did not relate in any way to forced marriage. A further 20 were being checked by the AWA (CME) to determine whether they had taken up school places that had been offered or were out of school. None of these were linked to forced marriage. These children are classified as "children missing education".

Records are also kept of and searches undertaken for "missing children" who are no longer living in Tower Hamlets and whose whereabouts are unknown. There were 27 names on the Missing Children Register (MCR), on 20 March. 12 have been added in the current academic year. These are not the same children as "children missing education". Forced marriage was not reported as a contributory factor in any of the 27 cases.

Initially, attempts are made to contact the family by the school and a referral is then made to the Attendance and Welfare Adviser (AWA). The AWA checks with the housing directorate, including housing benefits and free school meals, Children's Social Care, Pupil Services and a home visit is paid to the last known address. A formal referral is then made to the MCR where further checks are conducted through a number of databases including Student Finance Direct (to track parents possibly), THIS Child Online (web based inter agency CAF register), NOMAD (Gypsy and Travellers), MISPERS (Police) and Tower Hamlets Health. Where children's whereabouts still remain unknown, schools are advised to place the details on the DCSF s2s Missing Children Database and the LA posts a note on s2s that the child is missing. Bi-annual checks with Health, the Police and last known school, are completed.

Whether any of the cases could be potential forced marriage cases, and what evidence has been used to determine that, or otherwise.

Forced marriage was not reported on the MCR referral form, which monitors domestic violence and asks for any relevant information to be provided.

The Children Missing Education Guidance (CME) advises schools to report any concerns on forced marriage to the Child Protection Advice Line, which offers advice on safeguarding and operates as the child protection referral mechanism for children.

WALTHAM FOREST

There are currently 28 cases plus nine additional YOT referrals where pupils are only attending part time education. See details below.

KS 1: 2 pupils both have been offered school places but they are not local and parents are refusing to send due to distance. EWS are involved.

KS 2: 3 pupils:

— one subject of SENDIST parent requested independent school currently home educating visit to be arranged;

— one pupil has been permanently excluded parent is refusing the PRU offered by the LA and parent has said that she lives in Redbridge. Pupil subject of a statutory assessment case to be transferred to Redbridge; and

— one pupil in temporary accommodation—EWS involved.

KS 3:

— five pupils attending Education plus and receiving approximately 10 hours 1:1 tuition—two are subject to a SENDIST, two have attendance problems and EWS are involved and one is waiting for SEN consultation with an out borough school.

Seven pupils:

— one is a traveller who has an allocated school but following an assault parents are refusing to send them—Travellers Education Service are working with the school and families;

— two have moved out of the LA but we have not yet been informed that they have started school—EWS in all LAs are informed;

— two are travellers who returned to Romania at Christmas and have not returned—are on a school roll one parent is refusing an allocation made by HTPP—a meeting has been arranged with social inclusion and EWS and parent and young person; and

— one new arrival living with sister and her husband—EWS involved.

KS 4:

— four pupils attending Education Plus—two travellers, one school refuser EWS involved, one referred for vocational pathway;

— four pupils known to EWS court proceedings being followed;

— one pupil stopped attending vocational pathway to be re-interviewed;

— traveller who has an allocated school but following an assault parents are refusing to send them—Travellers Education Service are working with the school and families; and

— one traveller who has just had a baby.

There are also nine pupils referred to CME Panel on 3 April by YOT who are not attending full time education for a number of reasons. These will be followed up by the relevant services.

322 Chapter 6 (Protecting Children in Specific Circumstances) includes guidance on forced marriage and provides an electronic link to the FCO (2004) guidance for social workers. A flowchart for cases where forced marriage is suspected is also included. (Ch 6, pp 14-15). Back



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