Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

School Attendance

Monday 29 January 2024 · 5 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 2 Partly answered 3 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Ministerial duties include ensuring children not attending school receive a suitable education through revised guidance consultation.
  • The mental health support teams programme continues to expand, covering 35% of pupils in school or further education by end of March 2023.
  • The Minister supports training senior mental health leads in state schools and colleges through grants.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Jill Mortimer
Education Children & Families
Context

In Hartlepool, home-schooling numbers have increased to 186 from around 50 in four years. Many children are not turning up at school.

Question

Will my right hon. Friend share the steps that he is taking alongside Hartlepool Borough Council to ensure that those children who are not attending school receive a fair and decent education?

Answer from Damian Hinds

Local authorities have duties towards those children to ensure that all are receiving a suitable education and act if not. The consultation we held on revised guidance to help fulfil that responsibility recently closed, and we will publish the response in due course. We remain committed to legislation, as my right hon. Friend the Member for Chelmsford (Vicky Ford) said, to create statutory registers of children not in school in order to help local authorities identify those eligible children.

Partly answered

How: Under Review

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Q2 Stephen Hammond Con
Mental Health
Context

Access to mental health support can help pupils stay in school.

Question

What plans does the Department have to roll out more access to mental health support?

Answer from Damian Hinds

Of course, there are multiple layers to mental health support. The mental health support teams programme, which we are rolling out gradually across the country, continues to expand. At the end of March 2023, 35% of pupils in school or further education were covered by that, including 47% at secondary. When the figures for this year come out, I expect them to be higher. Unlike the Opposition, we are putting mental health support not only into secondary schools but into primary schools, where it can make a big difference.

Answered
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Q3 Munira Wilson Lib Dem Twickenham
Taxation Mental Health
Context

Funding is not guaranteed beyond 2025 and coverage is patchy. A teenager has been absent from school for four months due to mental ill health.

Question

Will the Minister back my ten-minute rule Bill to commit to exactly that duty, to be paid for by trebling the tax on social media companies?

Answer from Damian Hinds

The hon. Member identifies important problems. There are important links between mental ill health prevalence and non-attendance. We will see benefits from the offer to all state schools and colleges of a grant to train a senior mental health lead, as well as the wider mental health support teams that I mentioned.

Partly answered

How: Under Review

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Q4 Derek Twigg Lab Widnes and Halewood
Education Mental Health
Context

Early intervention is key for mental health issues.

Question

Could the Minister say more on early intervention at primary school level?

Answer from Damian Hinds

The hon. Gentleman is entirely correct. It is important to consider the role of mental health in primary as well as secondary school. We put mental health education on the curriculum through relationships, sex and health education, and we are investing in the mental health support teams that I mentioned, as well as the training grants.

Partly answered

How: Under Review

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Q5 Carol Monaghan SNP
Education
Context

Schools are removing GCSE students to protect their league table positions.

Question

What steps is the Minister taking to address off-rolling?

Answer from Damian Hinds

Let me be abundantly clear: off-rolling—removing a pupil from a school without using a permanent exclusion—is unacceptable and unlawful. That is in the Ofsted framework, and it is strengthened in the revised framework that came out in 2019 to look at that. It can be seen in Ofsted's report. It is also looked at by the Teacher Regulation Agency.

Answered
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