Labour reveals plans to tackle ‘generational’ school absences challenge

Published

1 year ago

January 7, 2024

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Labour says it will introduce additional mental health counsellors to secondary schools as part of its plans to tackle rising pupil absences.

The party says the UK is facing a “generational challenge”, as more than 88,000 secondary school students missed at least half of their education last year.

Labour’s education pledge comes as a poll conducted for the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) suggested almost a third of parents believe it is not essential for children to attend school every day.

The thinktank’s report, which questioned 1,206 parents during December 2023, found 28% felt that way, and only 70% of parents are confident that their child’s needs are being met – a figure which drops to 61% at secondary school.

A report by a committee of cross-party MPs released in September last year said that mental health support for children struggling to attend school was “grossly inadequate”.

As well as the introduction of more mental health counsellors in secondary schools, Labour is pledging to put “mental health hubs” in every community and offer universal free breakfast clubs for every primary school pupil if it gains power.

Shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson will deliver a speech on Labour’s vision for schools on Tuesday, where she is expected to lay out a plan for tackling high rates of persistent absence.

She said the “broken relationship between schools and families” needs fixing.

The Conservatives “are only tinkering around the edges of a generational challenge,” Ms Phillipson said.

She added: “Persistent absence has reached historic levels under the Conservatives, beginning even before the pandemic, and they cannot be trusted to fix a problem that they have caused.

“Only Labour has a long-term plan to tackle the attendance crisis and drive the high and rising standards our children deserve.”

Figures released in September last year showed that more than 1.7 million children were persistently absent in 2021/2022, meaning they missed 10% or more of school.

The government has previously committed to introducing a children-not-in-school register, which would make it easier to track which pupils were being electively home-educated, flexi-schooled, or receiving alternative education in an unregistered setting.

Education secretary Gillian Keegan reiterated the government’s intention to introduce the register in November last year but didn’t say when the plans would be brought before parliament.

She said there was “a lot of work going on”, and referenced a consultation that was launched on revised elective home education guidance.

“The consultation is open until 18 January 2024. So there is a lot of work going on and we do intend to bring forward that legislation,” she said in the Commons.

Politics

MP Zarah Sultana who was ousted from Labour announces she is starting new political party with Jeremy Corbyn

Published

10 hours ago

July 3, 2025

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MP Zarah Sultana who was ousted from Labour announces she is starting new political party with Jeremy Corbyn

An MP who was ousted from the Labour Party has announced she is setting up a new political party with Jeremy Corbyn.

Independent MP Zarah Sultana said she and the former Labour leader will co-lead the new party, which she did not provide a name for.

She said other independent MPs, campaigners and activists from across the country will join them, but did not name anyone.

Politics latest: Zarah Sultana’s stinging resignation letter

Ms Sultana also said she was “resigning” from the Labour Party after 14 years.

She was suspended as a Labour MP shortly after they came to power last summer for voting against the government maintaining the two-child benefit cap.

Several others from the left of the party, including Mr Corbyn, were also suspended for voting against the government, and also remained as independent MPs.

However, Ms Sultana was still a member of the Labour Party – until now.

Mr Corbyn has previously said the independent MPs who were suspended from Labour would “come together” to provide an “alternative.

The other four are: Iqbal Mohamed, Shockat Adam, Ayoub Khan and Adnan Hussain.

Mr Corbyn and the other four independents have not said if they are part of the new party Ms Sultana announced.

In her announcement, Ms Sultana said she would vote to abolish the two-child benefit cap again and also voted against scrapping the winter fuel payment for most pensioners.

Ms Sultana also voted against the government’s welfare bill this week, which was heavily watered down as Sir Keir Starmer tried to prevent a major rebellion from his own MPs.

On Wednesday, Ms Sultana spoke passionately against Palestine Action being proscribed as a terror organisation – but MPs eventually voted for it to be.

She said to proscribe it is “a deliberate distortion of the law to chill dissent, criminalise solidarity and suppress the truth”.

Ms Sultana said they were founding the new party because “Westminster is broken but the real crisis is deeper – just 50 families now own more wealth than half the UK population”.

She called Reform leader Nigel Farage “a billionaire-backed grifter” leading the polls “because Labour has completely failed to improve people’s lives.

The MP, who has spoken passionately about Gaza, added: “Across the political establishment, from Farage to Starmer, they smear people of conscience trying to stop a genocide in Gaza as terrorists.

“But the truth is clear: this government is an active participant in genocide. And the British people oppose it.

“We are not going to take this anymore.”

A Labour Party spokesperson said: “In just 12 months, this Labour government has boosted wages, delivered an extra four million NHS appointments, opened 750 free breakfast clubs, secured three trade deals and four interest rate cuts lowering mortgage payments for millions.

“Only Labour can deliver the change needed to renew Britain.”