§ Mr. WhittingdaleTo ask the Secretary of State for Education how many pupils have been expelled from secondary schools for drug abuse in each of the last 10 years.
§ Mr. ForthFigures for each of the last 10 years are not available. Information on permanent exclusions from maintained schools in England was collected by the Department over a two-year period, starting with summer term 1990, under the national exclusions reporting system. Eighty-one exclusions in year one and 179 in year two were reported to relate at least partly to drug or solvent misuse. These figures were not disaggregated between primary and secondary schools.
§ Mrs. GoldingTo ask the Secretary of State for Education what plans he has to collate and publish on a regular basis the figures on exclusion from school.
§ Mr. ForthThe Department monitored permanent exclusions at maintained schools over a two-year period starting with summer term 1990 under the national exclusions reporting system to inform the review of the operation of exclusion procedures under the Education (No. 2) Act 1986. Following that review, the Education Act 1993 made significant changes to the law on exclusions which come into effect in September 1994. In the light of experience of the operation of the new procedures the Secretary of State will consider whether any further monitoring of permanent exclusions is necessary.
§ Mrs. GoldingTo ask the Secretary of State for Education what his Department is doing to encourage schools to use the exclusion of pupils as a last resort rather than a routine sanction.
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1 2 3 4 1992–93 Percentage of total local authority expenditure on education Percentage of total local authority expenditure on education less mandatory awards Percentage of education expenditure on administration and other non-school expenditure Percentage of education expenditure allocated to schools Avon 59.9 52.9 26.2 73.8 Bedfordshire 62.2 55.9 23.3 76.7 Berkshire 57.4 51.2 25.9 74.1 Buckinghamshire 62.7 54.5 29.5 70.5 Cambridgeshire 62.2 54.8 25.1 74.9 Cheshire 62.9 54.7 28.4 71.6 Cleveland n/a n/a n/a n/a Cornwall 58.8 51.4 28.2 71.8 Cumbria 57.3 53.0 26.5 73.5 Derbyshire 62.6 56.6 25.3 74.7 Devon 57.5 49.8 28.6 71.4 Dorset 57.5 50.0 31.6 68.4 Durham 61.7 56.4 24.4 75.6 East Sussex 56.4 49.0 26.5 73.5 Essex 59.3 53.1 24.3 75.7 Gloucestershire 59.0 51.0 30.9 69.1 Hampshire 62.7 55.5 26.8 73.2 Hereford and Worcester 61.5 53.6 26.5 73.5 Hertfordshire 65.3 56.9 28.0 72.0 Humberside 58.7 53.7 22.8 77.2 Isle of Wight 59.7 53.1 29.3 70.7 Kent 54.9 48.3 24.8 75.2
§ Mr. ForthA draft circular on exclusions was issued for consultation recently as part of the "Pupils with Problems" package. It makes clear that exclusion should be used sparingly and always as a last resort in response to serious breaches of a school's behaviour policy or of the criminal law. The final version of the circular will be issued in May to all schools.
§ Mrs. GoldingTo ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the advice given to parents whose children face exclusion from school.
§ Mr. ForthNone. This is a matter for individual LEAs and schools in the light of the requirements of the Education (No. 2) Act 1986. Many schools and LEAs issue leaflets to parents explaining the exclusion process and their rights.
§ Mrs. GoldingTo ask the Secretary of State for Education what plans he has to give excluded pupils the right to appeal against their exclusion.
§ Mr. ForthPupils—or parents, if the pupil is under 18 —already have a right of appeal under the Education (No. 2) Act 1986 against permanent exclusion.