| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
24 Apr 2009 : Column 908W—continued
Truancy
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many children have had at least one unauthorised absence from school in (a) England, (b) the North East and (c) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency in the last five years. [260803]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The requested information for England, the North East and Middlesbrough local authority area is shown in the table. To provide data at constituency level would incur disproportionate cost.
| Primary, secondary and special schools( 1,2 ) number of pupil enrolments with at least one unauthorised absence( 3 ) 2003/04 to 2007/08( 4) | |||||
| England | 2003/04( 2) | 2004/05( 2) | 2005/06 | 2006/07 | 2007/08 |
| (1) Includes maintained secondary schools, city technology colleges and academies (including all-through academies). (2) Includes maintained and non maintained special schools. Excludes general hospital schools. (3) Number of pupil enrolments from the start of the school year to the end of the summer half term each year. Includes pupils aged 5 to 15 who are on the school roll for at least one half day session, excluding boarders. Some pupils may be counted more than once (if they moved schools during the school year or are registered at more than one school. (4) Figures in italics have been sourced from the Absence in Schools Survey. Other figures are derived from the School Census. Note: Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10 Source: Absence in Schools Survey and School Census (4) | |||||
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what recent assessment he has made of the effect on school truancy rates of his Department's initiatives to reduce truancy; and if he will make a statement. [269298]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Department does not maintain records of truancy. The Department's efforts are focused on improving attendance and reducing absence, and this policy is clearly working, as the following figures show.
Overall absence in 2007/08 was 6.29 per cent. for maintained primary and secondary schools, special schools, city technology colleges and academies—the lowest on record, having fallen for eight of the last 10 years. On average 70,000 more pupils were in school each day in 2007/08 than would be the case if absence rates were still at the level of a decade ago.
Persistent absence, where a pupil misses 20 per cent. or more of schooling, is the best indicator of problem absence. The proportion of persistent absentees in primary, secondary and special schools fell to 3.6 per cent. in 2007/08 compared to 4.1 per cent. in 2006/07.
Persistent absence in secondary schools accounted for 27.7 per cent. of all overall absence. All schools and
local authorities now have to target ‘persistent absentees’ and in 2007/08 persistent absence fell by 17 per cent. in the 452 schools with the highest numbers of persistent absentees.
Communities and Local Government
Beaches: Facilities
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what changes have been made to the rating (a) system and (b) charges for beach huts in Bournemouth in 2009-10 compared with the previous year; and if she will make a statement. [270268]
John Healey: There has been no change to the rating system. However, the liable party for rates on some beach huts in Bournemouth has changed. Where this is the case, and individual tenants are now liable for rates on their beach huts rather than the council, the VOA has assessed the rateable value of each beach hut separately.
Council Tax
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the average council tax band of a (a) social rented, (b) private rented and (c) privately-owned dwelling is according to data held by (i) her Department, (ii) the Homes and Communities Agency, (iii) the National Register of Social Housing and (iv) the Valuation Office Agency. [270291]
John Healey: For both social and private renters the most common Council Tax band (the mode) is Band A; for owner occupiers the most common band is Band D. The median dwelling value for both social and private renters is within Band B; the median dwelling value for owner occupiers is within Band C. This information is derived from the 2006-07 Survey of English Housing.
Neither the Homes and Communities Agency, the National Register of Social Housing or the Valuation Office Agency hold the data requested.
Council Tax: Valuation
Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many homes were valued in each council tax band in each region of England in each year from 1993 to 1997. [270824]
John Healey: Details of the number of homes in each council tax band in each region of England in each year from 1993 to 1997 are available in issues of Local Government Financial Statistics England, copies of which are available in the Library of the House.
Fire Services: Injuries
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many injuries were sustained by firefighters in the course of their duties in each fire authority area in each of the last three years. [270031]
Mr. Khan: The number of injuries sustained by firefighters in the course of their duties in each fire authority area in each of the last three years is shown in the table.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |