Oral Answers to Questions Debate

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Department: Department for Education

Oral Answers to Questions

Robert Halfon Excerpts
Monday 21st June 2021

(2 years, 9 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Lindsay Hoyle Portrait Mr Speaker
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Let us go to the Chair of the Education Committee, Robert Halfon.

Robert Halfon Portrait Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con) [V]
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Even before the pandemic, persistent absence—pupils missing 10% or more of their education—was alarmingly high, at 13.1%. As pupils have returned, the overall rate has remained stubbornly high at 13%, or at around 916,000 pupils. For secondary pupils, it has actually risen from 15% to 16.3%. What are the Department’s plans to bring persistent absence down?

Gavin Williamson Portrait Gavin Williamson
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This is an incredibly important area. At the very start of the pandemic, we set up the regional education and children’s teams—REACT—which were a co-operation between schools, local government, the Department for Education and the police in order to target some of the youngsters who struggle the most and are most likely not to be in school. We continue to expand that work through the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to help the families who struggle the most, and recognise that it is children in that category who are most vulnerable and possibly the most likely to have persistent absence from schools. We will continue to work across Government, recognising that it is not just about schools, but about local authorities, the police, health and social care coming together to bring children back into the classroom and to ensure that they are not missing out on school.