§ Mr. Hanleyasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science when he expects to issue the proposed circular on school attendance and educational welfare services; and if he will make a statement.
§ Sir Keith JosephCopies of the draft circular were sent yesterday to the local authority and teacher associations and other relevant organisations together with an invitation to them to comment by the end of June. The draft circular analyses the functions of education welfare services, recommends priorities and approaches for them to adopt, and invites authorities to review the services in their area. its main purpose is to focus the work of the services more sharply on school attendance. It announces my intention to seek detailed information from local authorities towards the end of next year about their arrangements for giving effect to the recommendations in the draft circular, and to set in hand national consultations on the training of education welfare officers. Copies of the document have been placed in the Library.