§ Mr. Win GriffithsTo ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he has taken to monitor the way in which local education authorities have assessed the number of schools in their areas which would particularly benefit from school-police liaison projects; and what percentage of such schools in each local education authority have these projects.
§ Mr. ForthThis information is not collected centrally.
Under the Education (No. 2) Act 1986, school governing bodies are required to report annually to parents on steps taken to strengthen links with the community, including the police. Advice on good practice in police/school liaison was contained in HM inspectorate's publication "Our Policeman" published in 1989. The Elton report on "Discipline in Schools", distributed to 542W all LEAs and schools in March 1989, also gave advice on links with the police. The Department is currently funding a research project by the National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders on the role of the education service in youth crime prevention. My right hon. Friend will wish to review the general question of links between schools and the police in the light of the outcomes of that project.