Council leaders are calling on the Government to set up a register of children who are persistently absent from school, and to give them more powers to deal with the problem.
The Local Government Association (LGA) welcomed plans announced by the Department for Education to drive up school attendance as ‘positive’.
It will involve the expansion of the attendance hubs programme and more mentors in areas of the country with the highest levels of pupil absence.
Other measures include automatic text messaging to parents where pupils do not attend school and using data to identify children at risk of poor attendance in order to intervene early.
Louise Gittins, chair of the LGA’s children and young people board, said: ‘Good attendance at school plays a vital role in children’s development and for their well-being, and it is positive government has set out measures to improve this.
‘However, we have long raised with Government that councils lack the powers to ensure that children who are missing school don’t slip through the net.
‘Despite having a legal duty to ensure a school place for every child, councils do not have the ability to direct academies to accept pupils, even if they are the most appropriate school for a pupil.
‘Under the current arrangements, children not in school are invisible to councils and the services that keep them safe.
‘This is why it is vital the Government legislates for a register of children who are not in school, combined with powers for councils to meet face-to-face with children.’
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