HC Deb 15 May 2002 vol 385 cc646-7W
Mr. Andrew Turner

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, pursuant to her answer of 7 May 2002, ref 53890, how many prosecutions have taken place for offences under the Education Act 1996 in each year since 1997; and what those offences were. [55602]

Mr. Ivan Lewis

Under the Education Act 1996 the following are guilty of an offence and liable for prosecution:

  1. (1) The parent of a child who has been "cleansed" under s522 but is again "infested" or in "a foul condition" is guilty of an offence (section 525);
  2. (2) A parent or the employer of a child, who is a registered pupil, where that child is employed in contravention of a notice issued by the LEA either prohibiting his employment or imposing restrictions upon his employment (section 559);
  3. (3) The parent of a registered pupil at a school who fails to attend regularly (section 444);
  4. (4) Any person who is on school property without lawful authority and while there causes a disturbance or nuisance (section 457);
  5. (5) A parent who fails to comply with the requirement of a notice to have a child medically examined (section 506);
  6. (6) A parent who fails to comply with a notice requiring a child's attendance at an exam (paragraph 5(1) Schedule 26). Information on prosecutions provided by the Home Office for the years 1997 to 2000 is as follows:

Number of defendants proceeded against at the magistrates courts, found guilty and sentenced at all courts under the Education Act 1996 England and Wales 1997–20001,2
Offence description Statute Year Proceeded against Found guilty
Employment of children or young persons Education Act 1996 1997 1 1
(Consolidated Act 1994–96) 1998 3 3
1999 1 1
12000 4 2
Other offences under Education Act 1996 Education Act 1996 1997 4,204 3,623
(that cannot be separately classified) (Consolidated Act 1994–96) 1998 5,601 4,872
1999 5,610 4,852
12000 5,668 4,773
1Staffordshire police force were only able to submit sample data for persons proceeded against and convicted in the magistrates courts for the year 2000. Although sufficient to estimate higher orders of data these data are not robust enough at a detailed level and have been excluded from this table.
2These data are on a principal offence basis.

Source:

Crime and Criminal Justice Unit, Home Office

Back to