Source · Select Committees · Education Committee
Recommendation 29
29
Deferred
Paragraph: 134
Introduce a mental health absence code for schools with clear usage thresholds.
Conclusion
As part of reforms to the guidance on attendance, the Department should introduce a mental health absence code, and set clear thresholds for its use.
Government Response Summary
The government's response detailed the 'Working together to improve attendance' guidance, focusing on its 'support first' ethos and the use of legal interventions, but did not address the recommendation to introduce a mental health absence code.
Paragraph Reference:
134
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government
Deferred
30. The ‘Working together to improve attendance’ guidance is clear that in most cases, local agencies collaborating to provide ‘support first’ is the right approach to tackle attendance problems. The core focus of the guidance is on prevention and early intervention, particularly for absence with complex causes. The guidance is also clear that there are some situations in which support to improve attendance is not appropriate Government response 7 such as an unauthorised holiday in term time. In these cases, and in circumstances where support is not successful, or is not engaged with, it is right that the law protects a pupil’s right to an education. Here, there is a clear role for the use of legal intervention to secure a pupil’s regular attendance. This includes fixed penalty notices which the guidance says explicitly ‘are intended to prevent the need for court action and should only be used where likely to change parental behaviour’.