The Education Committee has published the Government’s response to its recent major report on persistent absence from schools.
It comes after the cross-party Committee questioned the Secretary of State for Education yesterday (6 December) on a key recommendation from the report – that the Government should legislate for a national register of children not in mainstream education that should be operational by September 2024.
Despite repeated statements from the Government that it supports the creation of a register, the legislation required did not appear in the recent King’s Speech.
The Government’s response to the report 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.”
