Responding to the second report on school attendance by England’s
Children’s Commissioner, Dame Rachel de Souza, DBE, which
estimates there were 1,782,000 pupils persistently absent in the
Autumn 2021 term, Cllr Anntoinette Bramble, Chair of the Local
Government Association’s Children and Young People Board, said:
“The number of persistently absent children from school is very
concerning. Good attendance at school plays a vital role in
children’s development and for their well-being.
“Councils want to ensure every child attends school, however the
safety net that schools and councils provide to ensure that
children do not miss out on their entitlement to education is
stretched to capacity, exacerbated by a lack of resources and
powers available to councils to fulfil their statutory duties –
which worsened as a result of the pandemic.
“To tackle this, we would like the Government to work to raise
the profile of children missing formal full-time education, and
resource councils adequately to fulfil their responsibilities in
ensuring all children receive a suitable education. This should
include adequate funding for local services to work together to
provide wraparound support for children’s mental health.
“Councils also need powers to hold schools to account for the
support they provide to pupils with SEND, to boost mainstream
inclusion.”
