Referrals to social care services for one in four “severely absent” pupils resulted in “no further action”, prompting calls for more help from wider support services to tackle the attendance crisis.
A new report by the children’s commissioner has exposed “substantial variation” in support across the country for children involved in social care.
The rate of children having no further action taken (NFA) after a referral to children’s services varied from between 1.6 per cent in one area, to 63 per cent in another, analysis od data from 2021-22 showed.
In these cases, the social workers decided the children did not meet the threshold for intervention by services, although they may have been offered early help, the report added.
