Truancy: Prosecutions
Commons · Question 26449 · Tabled 1 Sep 2026 · Department for Education · Official record
Answered 8 Sep 2026
Question
Asked by Ben Maguire
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will release an estimation of the legal costs incurred in prosecuting school attendance offences in each of the last three academic years.
Answer
Answered by Paul Waugh, 8 Sep 2026
The department does not hold data on the legal costs incurred in prosecuting school attendance offences.Statutory guidance on attendance makes it clear that legal intervention, including prosecution, should be considered only where support has been exhaus...