§ Mrs. Chalkerasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what are the latest available figures for school absences for 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16 year olds by each education authority responsible for which figures are collected in comparison with a similar period in 1974.
§ Miss Joan LestorNo information is available on a national basis subsequent to that obtained in my Department's survey of absence in maintained middle and secondary schools on a named day in 625W January 1974, but our consultations on behaviour problems with local authority and teachers' associations include consideration of whether and in what form the systematic collection of information on absence may be useful.