Ghost children: Labour to force vote on creation of list of those not in school

Published

2 years ago

January 23, 2024

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Labour is aiming to force a vote on the creation of a list of children out of school, as it seeks to shine a spotlight on the number of youngsters missing lessons under the current government.

Announcing their plans, the opposition party highlights that absences have reached “historic” levels since the Conservatives took power in 2010 – increasing by 40% since then.

The phenomenon has also become known as “ghost children”.

Severe absences – missing more than 50% of school days – have tripled since the same date.

Analysis by the party claims that one in three children sitting their GCSEs this year have missed nearly three months of secondary school since the pandemic.

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Labour says it wants council-maintained lists of children not on school rolls.

The party is planning on using an opposition day on Tuesday – when they get to choose the topic debated in the Commons – to propose the legislation be heard on Wednesday 7 February.

Opposition days tend to be political and can be easily defeated by the government if it needs to utilise its majority – although the debates can prove sticky if centred on a controversial topic, as seen by the fracking vote which precipitated the collapse of Liz Truss’s premiership.

Labour has highlighted the backing of ministers and Tory MPs previously leant to creating such registers or lists.

The illusive ‘ghost children’ register

Nick Martin

People and politics correspondent

@NickMartinSKY

Creating a register of children not in school has been talked about a lot, not just by political parties, but by local councils and schools whose job it is to make sure children attend class.

But to date, no such register exists. Proposals to legislate for a new national register were once part of the Government’s now-scrapped Schools Bill.

In December 2022, Education Secretary Gillian Keegan told MPs on the Education Select Committee that a register for children not in school would remain a priority for the Government, but legislation to create a register has yet to be put forward.

Last summer, in an interview with Sky News, I asked Ms Keegan when the Government would re-introduce the idea.

She said: “I don’t have the exact answer because it’s a parliamentary process that we have to go through, but we do intend to put it on a statutory footing and we will do that as soon as as the parliamentary time allows.”

And since then there has been no progress on introducing one. The Department for Education has announced an additional 18 “attendance hubs” in England, which are run by schools with strong attendance records who share their expertise with schools that need help.

And a national communications campaign on the importance of attendance has also been launched to target parents and carers.

But Labour’s intervention on the issue could be significant and popular amongst those who have campaigned for registers.

And with an estimated 1.8 million children now persistently absent from school, missing more than 10 per cent of lessons, the problem is an urgent one.

The government had promised to introduce a register within the Schools Bill, which was announced under the then education secretary, Nadhim Zahawi, in May 2022 when Boris Johnson was still prime minister.

However, the bill was scrapped in December of that year by Gillian Keegan, appointed to the schools brief by Rishi Sunak.

Mrs Keegan did tell the Commons’ Education Select Committee at the time that the concept of a register was “definitely a priority”.

Nick Gibb, who was schools minister at the time, told the same committee in July 2023 that the “register of children not in school is important, and we consulted on it”.

He added: “Again, we do not have a legislative vehicle to introduce it, but we are still committed to doing so.”

A similar bill was introduced by Conservative MP Flick Drummond last year, and was backed by nine other Conservatives, including former education secretary Sir Gavin Williamson.

The attempt by Ms Drummond did not even progress past a first reading in the Commons, with no vote taking place.

She has made a second attempt with her The Children Not in School (Registers, Support and Orders) Bill, which is set for a second reading and vote on 15 March.

A report from the children’s commissioner found children who were persistently absent for years 10 and 11 were half as likely to get five GCSEs when compared to students more often in attendance.

It is understood that the government is still working with councils on non-statutory registers.

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Bridget Phillipson, Labour’s shadow education secretary, said: “Conservative MPs, including the current schools minister and two former schools ministers, claim to support the register of children not in school but yet again have failed to deliver.

“The secretary of state has said it is her priority to legislate on a register ‘in the very short term’: that is why Labour is giving her and her Conservative colleagues an opportunity to make good on her pledge.

“There is no time to waste if we are to tackle the biggest challenge currently facing our schools – that is why Labour’s motion is so essential, and represents the first step of our long-term plan to get to grips with persistent absence.

“Only Labour is demonstrating the kind of leadership on education which will break down the barriers to opportunity and deliver better life chances for our children.”

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “The government is committed to ensuring that all children, especially the most vulnerable in our society, are safe and have access to a suitable education.

“We remain committed to legislating to take forward the Children Not in School measures, and will progress these when the legislative timetable allows.”

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August 24, 2025

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Fast-track asylum appeals process to be introduced – as average time for decisions is more than one year

Published

6 hours ago

August 24, 2025

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Fast-track asylum appeals process to be introduced - as average time for decisions is more than one year

A new fast-track asylum appeals process will be introduced to speed up the process of deporting people without a right to remain in the UK, the home secretary has said.

As it currently takes, on average, more than a year to reach a decision on asylum appeals, the government plans to set up a new independent panel focused on asylum appeals to help reduce the backlog.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said “completely unacceptable” delays in the appeals process left failed asylum seekers in the system for years.

There are about 51,000 asylum appeals waiting to be heard.

The new independent body will use professionally-trained adjudicators, rather than relying on judges.

Ministers are introducing a new 24-week deadline for the first-tier tribunal to determine asylum appeals by those receiving accommodation support and appeals by foreign offenders.

But they believe the current tribunal system, which covers a wide range of different cases, is still failing to ensure failed asylum seekers can be returned as swiftly as possible, nor can it accommodate a fast-track system for safe countries.

It comes amid protests about the use of hotel accommodation for migrants.

The home secretary said the overhaul would result in a system which is “swift, fair and independent, with high standards in place”.

She said: “We inherited an asylum system in complete chaos with a soaring backlog of asylum cases and a broken appeals system with thousands of people in the system for years on end.

“That is why we are taking practical steps to fix the foundations and restore control and order to the system.

“We are determined to substantially reduce the number of people in the asylum system as part of our plan to end asylum hotels.

“Already since the election, we have reduced the backlog of people waiting for initial decisions by 24% and increased failed asylum returns by 30%.

“But we cannot carry on with these completely unacceptable delays in appeals as a result of the system we have inherited which mean that failed asylum seekers stay in the system for years on end at huge cost to the taxpayer.”

Official figures released earlier this month showed a total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.

Politics

Reform UK’s new immigration plans would have been seen as extreme just a few years ago

Published

18 hours ago

August 23, 2025

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Reform UK's new immigration plans would've been extreme just a few years ago

Mass deportations. Prison camps. Quitting the Refugee Convention and the UN Convention on Torture.

A shrug of the shoulders at the idea of the UK sending asylum seekers back to places like Afghanistan or Eritrea, where they could be tortured or executed.

“I’m really sorry, but we can’t be responsible for everything that happens in the whole of the world,” says Nigel Farage.

“Who is our priority?”

The Reform UK leader has been setting out his party’s new plans to address illegal migration in an interview with The Times newspaper – a set of policies, and a use of language, which would surely have been seen as extreme just a few years ago.

Only last autumn the Reform leader repeatedly shied away from the concept of “mass deportations”, describing the idea as “a political impossibility”.

But now he’s embraced Trump-style immigration rhetoric.

It’s not surprising that Reform want to capitalise on the outpouring of public anger over the use of hotels to house asylum seekers. The policy was started by the previous Conservative government, in response to housing shortages – and Labour has failed to make significant progress on its promise to stop it.

But all the major parties have shifted firmly to the right on this issue.

There’s been very little political criticism of the aggressiveness of Farage’s policy suggestions, and the premise that the UK should no longer offer sanctuary to anyone who arrives here illegally.

The Tory response has been to complain that he’s just copying the ideas they didn’t quite get round to implementing before calling the general election.

“Four months late, this big reveal is just recycling many ideas the Conservatives have already announced,” said Chris Philp MP, the shadow home secretary.

“Labour’s border crisis does urgently need to be fixed with tough and radical measures, but only the Conservatives have done – and will continue to do – the detailed work to deliver a credible plan that will actually work in practice.”

Certainly, the ambition to arrest and deport everyone who arrives in a small boat – regardless of whether or not they have legitimate grounds for asylum – has clear echoes of the Tories’ Rwanda policy.

Despite spending £700m on the controversial idea, only four volunteers were ever sent to Kigali before it was cancelled by Sir Keir Starmer, who branded it a gimmick.

Labour have suggested they’ve diverted Home Office resources that were freed up by that decision into processing asylum claims more quickly and increasing deportations.

They’re hoping tougher action against the criminal gangs and the new “one in one out” deal with France will help deter the number of people crossing the Channel in small boats in the first place, currently at record levels.

But rather than offering any defence of the principle of offering asylum to genuine refugees – Labour’s Angela Eagle MP, the border security minister, has also focused on the feasibility of Farage’s policies.

“Nigel Farage is simply plucking numbers out of the air, another pie in the sky policy from a party that will say anything for a headline,” she said.

“We are getting a grip of the broken asylum system. Making sure those with no right to be here are removed or deported.”

Even the Liberal Democrats have taken a similar approach.

“This plan sums up Nigel Farage perfectly, as like him it doesn’t offer any real solutions,” they said.

“Whilst Farage continues to stoke division, we Liberal Democrats are more interested in delivering for our local communities.”

It’s been left to the Refugee Council to defend the principle of asylum.

“After the horrors of the Second World War, Britain and its allies committed to protecting those fleeing persecution,” said CEO Enver Solomon.

“The Refugee Convention was our collective vow of ‘never again’ – a legal framework ensuring that people who come to our country seeking safety get a fair chance to apply for asylum.

“That commitment remains vital today. Whether escaping conflict in Sudan or repression under regimes like the Taliban, people still need protection.

“Most find refuge in neighbouring countries. But some will seek sanctuary in Europe, including Britain.

“We can meet this challenge by upholding a fair, managed system that determines who qualifies for protection and who does not.”

But with Reform leading in the polls, and protests outside hotels across the country – politicians of all stripes are under pressure to respond to public frustration over the issue.

A recent YouGov poll found half of voters now believe immigration over the last ten years has been mostly bad for the country – double the figure just three years ago.

While the government has made some progress in reducing the cost of asylum hotels – down from £8.3m a day in 2023/4 to £5.77m a day in 2024/5 – the overall numbers accommodated in this way have gone up by 8% since Labour took charge, thanks to the surge in new claims.

Sir Keir has previously said he won’t make a promise he can’t keep.

But current efforts to end the use of asylum hotels by 2029 are clearly not working.

That’s a credibility gap Farage is more than ready to exploit.