HC Deb 28 February 1995 vol 255 cc524-7W
Mr. Waterson

To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether she will publish the results of the survey of arrangements for enforcing school attendance undertaken by her Department last year.

Mr. Forth

The survey showed that 2,689 education welfare officers were employed by English local education authorities as at September 1994. LEAs were also asked to provide information on the number of school attendance orders, education supervision orders and prosecutions mounted against parents over the three school years up to and including 1993–94. The survey revealed that, over the period in question, the total number of SAOs had risen from 40 to 56 a year, ESOs from 81 to 314 a year, and the number of prosecutions had risen from 2,803 to 3,688 a year. The position for individual LEAs is set out in the following table.

Enforcement of School Attendance
Education Welfare Officers1 School Attendance Orders2 Education Supervision Orders2 Prosecutions2
LEA Total FTE 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94
Gateshead 20 20.0 1 0 0 8 5 4 22 45 46
Gloucestershire 16 16.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 15 11 19
Greenwich 17 15.3 1 0 0 0 0 0 109 138 151
Hackney 15 14.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 14 4
Hammersmith and Fulham 15 12.5 1 4 6 6 4 9 10 12 14
Hampshire 83 80.6 1 0 0 1 1 17 48 32 65
Haringey 12 11.5 0 0 0 0 0 2 5 7 8
Harrow 9 9.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 3 5
Havering 13 13.0 0 0 0 0 4 3 9 15 19
Hereford and Worcester 20 20.0 2 1 0 0 0 1 22 33 49
Hertfordshire 43 40.3 0 0 0 0 3 0 8 16 14
Hillingdon 10 10.0 0 0 0 3 3 0 2 0 1
Hounslow 9 9.0 0 0 0 0 2 1 2 8 2
Humberside 47 46.5 0 1 0 1 6 6 83 94 83
Isle of Wight 9 8.5 0 0 0 1 2 2 4 5 5
Isles of Scilly1 0 0.0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
Islington 26 22.6 0 0 0 6 5 6 6 6 7
Kensington and Chelsea 15 15.0 0 0 1 2 4 4 11 23 4
Kent 47 42.0 2 1 0 0 8 4 96 236 244
Kingston upon Thames 6 6.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 4 0 0
Kirklees 26 23.0 1 0 2 2 2 0 30 49 42
Knowsley 15 14.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 72 53 27
Lambeth 32 28.0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 11 0
Lancashire 86 84.8 0 0 0 0 3 4 40 36 57
Leeds 62 56.0 1 3 3 1 3 5 18 31 21
Leicestershire 39 38.5 1 0 4 1 7 11 25 35 69
Lewisham 17 14.5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 25
Lincolnshire 22 22.0 3 6 7 0 1 2 74 52 74
Liverpool 60 56.0 0 6 0 1 1 1 32 45 61
London, Corporation of 1 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Manchester 29 27.5 3 0 0 7 5 5 142 148 129
Merton 8 8.0 0 0 0 0 2 0 19 39 37
Newcastle upon Tyne 14 14.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 21 3 0
Newham 17 17.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 151 77 104
Norfolk 35 30.5 0 0 1 0 0 0 16 17 26
Northamptonshire 26 25.0 0 0 0 0 1 6 70 97 79
Northumberland 12 12.0 0 0 1 0 0 3 6 6 7
North Tyneside 12 11.3 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 0 6
North Yorkshire 37 35.0 0 1 0 0 4 3 4 17 21
Nottinghamshire 63 63.0 2 3 5 0 0 0 66 148 229
Oldham 7 7.0 0 0 0 0 0 14 11 14 39
Oxfordshire 25 20.0 0 0 0 2 0 7 5 5 12
Redbridge 10 9.8 0 0 0 0 3 1 6 13 5
Richmond upon Thames 10 9.0 0 1 0 0 0 0 4 5 4
Rochdale 13 12.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
Rotherham 19 18.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 45 35 45
St. Helens 12 11.0 0 1 0 0 0 0 24 16 30
Salford 22 22.0 2 0 0 0 0 0 10 20 27
Sandwell 23 22.0 0 0 0 0 0 3 15 21 25
Sefton 24 23.5 0 0 0 0 5 3 8 21 18
Sheffield 53 48.5 1 1 0 0 0 0 14 21 23
Shropshire 18 17.5 0 0 0 0 0 0 44 59 25
Solihull 13 10.0 0 0 0 2 2 2 7 0 6
Somerset4 0 0.0 0 0 0 2 2 10 12 10 17
South Tyneside 17 16.5 0 0 0 0 0 0 17 21 14
Southwark 18 18.0 3 2 5 2 4 3 12 12 11
Staffordshire 57 57.0 0 0 0 0 3 15 33 8 50
Stockport 19 19.0 0 0 0 1 0 0 24 18 23
Suffolk 24 24.0 0 0 1 0 2 2 19 26 23
Sunderland 24 24.0 1 0 0 0 0 4 50 76 121
Surrey 28 26.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 16 14 18
Sutton 10 10.0 0 0 0 0 4 5 3 5 8
Tameside 16 16.0 0 0 0 1 8 8 53 43 35
Tower Hamlets 18 17.5 4 7 3 0 5 8 31 42 30

Enforcement of School Attendance
Education Welfare Officers1 School Attendance Orders2 Education Supervision Orders2 Prosecutions3
LEA Total FTE 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94
Trafford 10 10.0 0 0 1 1 4 3 21 31 41
Wakefield 20 20.0 0 0 0 0 4 0 37 24 38
Walsall 21 21.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 64 44 54
Waltham Forest 14 14.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 12
Wandsworth 17 17.0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 12 9
Warwickshire 30 25.8 0 0 0 7 1 4 10 31 29
Westminster, City of 13 13.0 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 3 2
West Sussex 27 24.0 0 0 2 0 4 30 0 12 25
Wigan 17 17.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 0 0
Wiltshire 21 21.0 0 0 1 1 1 3 15 17 10
Wirral 21 20.5 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 9 1
Wolverhampton 18 18.0 0 1 1 3 5 10 21 21 48
Total 2,689 2,556.6 40 47 56 81 220 314 2,803 3,080 3,688
1 Position as at September 1994.
2 Relates to school years.
3 On the Isles of Scilly, attendance problems are dealt with by headteachers (under 300 pupils in 4 schools)
4 In Somerset, school attendance enforcement is dealt with by Education officers rather than EWOs.