§ Mr. HoyleTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many schoolchildren were excluded from schools for drug misuse in(a) Lancashire and (b) Chorley in the last year for which figures are available. [98225]
§ Mr. MilibandI refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to the hon. Member for Altrincham and Sale, West (Mr. Brady) on 14 January, columns 573–74W.
§ Mr. HoyleTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what support is given to(a) schools and (b) pupils to tackle drug use. [98226]
§ Mr. Ivan LewisThe DfES provides considerable support to schools to fulfil their statutory obligation to educate young people about drugs. In 2002–03, £15.5m has been made available via the Standards Fund to improve the extent and quality of drug education. Of this, £1.3m has been set aside under the drug, alcohol and tobacco education training package to support teachers' continuing professional development. We are currently revising and consolidating our guidance to schools to make clear the statutory responsibilities and outline good practice in drug education and incident management. This guidance along with the curriculum materials produced by the QCA and the learning and development website for PSHE will further help schools in this area. Additionally, through the National Healthy School Standard and local programmes support is given to schools in meeting national criteria in drug education.
Through schools' pastoral support systems, pupils vulnerable to drug misuse should be identified to ensure that those who need extra help either receive it in school or through access to external specialist help. Connexions advisers, which all young people should have access to, also play an important role in identifying and addressing pupils' needs.