§ Mr. Win GriffithsTo ask the Secretary of State for Education what is the latest information he has on the levels of(a) truancy and (b) expulsions in primary and secondary schools.
§ Mr. ForthTruancy data will be published in local school performance tables for the first time this autumn. We will then have a clearer understanding of the levels of truancy nationally. Information on permanent exclusions from maintained schools was collected by the Department over a two-year period beginning with the summer term 1990. Returns from the second year are currently being analysed but preliminary results from an analysis of the first-year data show that there were some 3,000 permanent exclusions over that period. Exclusions in the primary phase accounted for 13 per cent. of the total.