HC Deb 22 July 1982 vol 28 cc518-9
4. Mr. Heddle

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will take steps to initiate a study into the relationship of juvenile crime and school truancy.

Mr. Mayhew

Research has clearly established that truancy and delinquency are significantly related. The aim must, of course, be to reduce both. The Department is funding research into a truancy project to test the effectiveness of one means of enforcing school attendance.

Mr. Heddle

I welcome the Department's initiative, but does my hon. and learned Friend agree that it is the primary duty not of teachers but of parents to ensure that their children attend school and do not play truant? Therefore, is he satisfied that the law is adequate to ensure that parents are brought to book if their children play truant and engage in juvenile crime?

Mr. Mayhew

Yes, Sir. The Education Act 1944 provides a maximum penalty of £200 on the first and second convictions for failing to ensure that a child attends school regularly. I was infuriated to see in The Times that the Hackney branch of the National Union of Teachers had ordered its members not to co-operate with the police. If my teacher took that attitude towards the police, I would want to play truant.

Mr. Skinner

Will the Minister take account of the fact that on any given day the truancy level in schools is less than 20 per cent.—[Interruption]—that Parliament's voting record shows that, on average, 50 per cent. of hon. Members vote, and that the figure for the SDP is about 30 per cent.? Will the hon. and learned Gentleman also look into adult crime and parliamentary truancy?

Mr. Mayhew

There is great significance in the hon. Gentleman's general point. I note that whenever there is a debate on law and order the Opposition Benches are nearly always deserted.