Select committee: Education Committee
Recommendation 33
Seventh Report - Persistent absence and support for disadvantaged pupils
Published 27 Sep 2023
Paragraph 149
Addressed to Department for Education
Education Committee Persistent absence and support for disadvantaged pupils All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
Ultimately, pupils from low-socio economic backgrounds should not be prevented from receiving an education due their financial situation, and this should be considered a priority for the Department as the cost of living continues to rise. We recommend the Department review its framework for supporting low-income families in meeting the costs of school attendance. As part of this review, the Department should conduct an impact assessment of its statutory guidance on school uniform, Persistent absence and support for disadvantaged pupils 67 support available for pupils with additional costs such as school trips, and support with transport costs. Following this review, the Department should issue supplementary guidance highlighting best practice, so schools and local authorities can make informed decisions on how to best support low-income families.
From: Education Committee, Seventh Report - Persistent absence and support for disadvantaged pupils (HC 970), paragraph 149, 27 September 2023
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 6 December 2023 (deadline 27 November 2023).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The Government states that it "accepts the majority of the committee's recommendations" and has provided its rationale where it does not accept others.
- On daily attendance data, the Department agrees with the aim of 100% of state-funded schools sharing data and intends to introduce regulations to mandate participation "no sooner than September 2024", subject to continued engagement and "the usual parliamentary procedures".
- The Government agrees the attendance guidance should be made statutory, but says it will legislate "when parliamentary time allows".
- It does not accept ring-fenced funding for local authority attendance work, saying core functions "can and should" be funded through the Central School Services Block, and "cautious" on a national roll-out of attendance mentors pending evaluation of the pilot.
- It does not believe a cross-government assessment of pupil mental health is "necessary at this time", and has "concerns" that a separate mental health absence code is "unhelpful in practice".