§ Mr. David NicholsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will review her Department's policy on exclusion from school; and if she will make a statement following the recent comments by the Commissioner of Police at the Metropolis on the contribution to certain types of crime by young black males who may have been excluded from school. [35446]
§ Mr. Robin SquireGovernment policy is to ensure that permanent exclusion is used as a last resort and that pupils out of school by reason of exclusion do not drop through1340W the education net. To that end the Education Act 1993 made a number of changes to the law on exclusions and placed a new duty on local education authorities to provide education otherwise than at school where necessary to meet a pupil's needs. These provisions came into effect on 1 September 1994 and we are keeping their implementation under review.