Councils are “unlikely to have capacity” to meet tougher school absence duties as new figures show attendance staff numbers have been “decimated” by a third in a decade.
Under reforms to crack down on school absence, town halls will have to provide a minimum attendance support offer to pupils, and their families and schools.
Last autumn, 23.5 per cent of pupils missed more than 10 per cent of sessions, up from 13.1 per cent in pre-pandemic 2019.
Dame Rachel de Souza, the children’s commissioner, has also warned of between 80,000 and 100,000 pupils dropping off school rolls.
