Labour to bring forward Children Not in School Bill as new analysis shows one in three children due to sit GCSEs is persistently absent
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Labour will today use an Opposition Day Debate motion to bring
forward legislation for a new register of children not in school as
part of its long-term plan to tackle persistent school absence. The
motion would seek to take control of the Parliamentary Order Paper
to allow the passage of a Children Not in School (National
Register) Bill, which would create a council-maintained register of
children not on school rolls, a measure that has previously had
widespread...Request free trial
Labour will today use an Opposition Day Debate motion to bring forward legislation for a new register of children not in school as part of its long-term plan to tackle persistent school absence. The motion would seek to take control of the Parliamentary Order Paper to allow the passage of a Children Not in School (National Register) Bill, which would create a council-maintained register of children not on school rolls, a measure that has previously had widespread Parliamentary support, including from Conservative MPs. Labour’s move comes as the party published new analysis showing that more than one in three children currently sitting their GCSEs have missed in total nearly three months of secondary school since the pandemic, pointing to looming falls in attainment. The figures will fuel concerns over long-term attainment prospects in secondary schools. A recent report by the Children’s Commissioner found that children who were persistently absent over years 10 and 11 were half as likely to pass five GCSEs than their peers with improved attendance records. Absence figures have reached historic levels under the Conservatives, increasing by more than 40% since 2010. The number of students recorded as being severely absent (i.e. missing more than 50% of school) has nearly tripled in the same period, with over 88,000 secondary school students missing at least half of their education last year. Earlier this month Shadow Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson unveiled a package of measures including the creation of a register, to tackle absence in a speech to the Centre for Social Justice. Phillipson said that the move further demonstrated Labour’s leadership in education after years of stagnation under the Conservatives, who she said had continually failed to legislate for the register despite the Education Secretary and successive Schools Ministers’ committing to legislation as a priority. The draft Schools Bill abandoned by the Conservative government after Rishi Sunak became Prime Minister included plans for such a register and was not a feature of the King’s Speech. Previous attempts to create a register of children not in school via Private Members’ Bills fell at the first hurdle – evidence, Labour said, that the government had given up on tackling absence as “an issue that affects other people’s children”. The Government’s response to the report of the Education Select Committee on the school absence crisis said of the proposals for a register: “The Government remains committed to introducing local authority registers for children not in school…The Government will legislate for these at a future suitable opportunity.” Bridget Phillipson MP, Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary, said: “Conservative MPs, including the current schools minister and two former schools minister, claim to support the register of children not in school but yet again have failed to deliver. “The Secretary of State has said it is her priority to legislate on a register ‘in the very short term’: that is why Labour is giving her and her Conservative colleagues an opportunity to make good on her pledge. “There is no time to waste if we are to tackle the biggest challenge currently facing our schools - that is why Labour’s motion is so essential and represents the first step of our long-term plan to get to grips with persistent absence.
“Only Labour is demonstrating the kind of leadership on education
which will break down the barriers to opportunity and deliver
better life chances for our children. Notes
Children Not in School (National Register) Bill That this House condemns the Secretary of State for Education for her failure to tackle the crisis of persistent school absence; calls on the Government to immediately introduce legislation to amend the Education Act 1996 in order to establish a mandatory duty on local authorities in England to maintain a register of eligible children not in school, as set out in Part 3 of the Schools Bill [Lords] published in the 2022-23 Parliamentary session; and therefore makes provision as set out in this Order: (1) On Wednesday 7 February 2024: (a) Standing Order No. 14(1) (which provides that government business shall have precedence at every sitting save as provided in that order) shall not apply; (b) any proceedings governed by this order may be proceeded with until any hour, though opposed, and shall not be interrupted; (c) the Speaker may not propose the question on the previous question, and may not put any question under Standing Order No. 36 (Closure of debate) or Standing Order No. 163 (Motion to sit in private); (d) at 3.00 pm, the Speaker shall interrupt any business prior to the business governed by this order and, notwithstanding the practice of this House as regards to proceeding on a Bill without notice, call the Member for Houghton and Sunderland South or another Member on her behalf to move the order of the day that the Children Not in School (National Register) Bill be now read a second time; (e) in respect of that Bill, notices of Amendments, new Clauses and new Schedules to be moved in Committee may be accepted by the Clerks at the Table before the Bill has been read a second time. (f) any proceedings interrupted or superseded by this order may be resumed or (as the case may be) entered upon and proceeded with after the moment of interruption. (2) The provisions of paragraphs (3) to (18) of this order shall apply to and in connection with the proceedings on the Children Not in School (National Register) Bill in the present Session of Parliament.
Days missed / persistently absent pupils: 11953075 / 222076 = 54 days or almost 11 weeks per pupil Methodology Labour has used linear regression to estimate the persistent absent rate for secondary school pupils in 2023/24. Pupils classed as persistently absent are those who have missed 10% of their time at school equivalent of 19 days out of the 190 day school year. Applying this to the secondary school persistent absence rates for pupils in Year 11 this year, these children have cumulatively missed 11,953,075 days across the four years of secondary school from Year 8 to Year 11. Assuming the 12% of pupils persistently absent in Y8, remain so throughout with the increase in the percentage persistently absent added onto this. Dividing the total number of days missed by the pupils who have been persistently absent during their time at secondary school. Persistent absence across autumn and spring terms source: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/e789ffd4-2102-48e8-4676-08dc15e274f3 Pupil numbers: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/da599e94-beda-4c81-46ac-08dc15e274f3
Conservative Backing for a Register of Children Not in School Flick Drummond – MP Calls for register of home-schooled children in new Bill amid safety concerns The following Conservative MPs all added their names to Flick Drummond’s Bill:
Will Quince (as Minister)
Nadhim Zahawi (As SoS for Education)
Damian Hinds (as SoS for Education)
Nick Gibb (As Minister)
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