§ Mr. WilshireTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the truancy figures are for secondary schools in Surrey for each year since 1997; and how many(a) prosecutions and (b) convictions for non-attendance at these schools there have been since 1997. [54325]
§ Mr. Ivan LewisUnauthorised absence for maintained secondary schools in Surrey is as follows:
Percentage of half days missed due to unauthorised absences Year Percentage 1996–97 0.4 1997–98 0.4 1998–99 0.5 1999–2000 0.7 2000–01 1.0 As part of their local public service agreement, agreed with the Government in April 2001, Surrey local authority have chosen to have a target to reduce the percentage of half days missed due to unauthorised absence in primary and secondary schools.
Information on prosecutions brought under Education Act 1996, section 444 "failing to secure regular attendance at school", will he available for the first time in 'Criminal Statistics for England and Wales 2001' which will be published by the Home Office in September of this year. This section of the Act has only come on to the criminal statistics code book for 2001; previously it was grouped within all prosecutions under the Education Act 1996 and it is not possible to separate the different sections of the Act.