Sir David Normington, permanent secretary at the Department for Education and Skills, was being questioned by the Commons Public Accounts Committee last week following the publication last month of a highly critical National Audit Office report on truancy (Children Now, 9-15 February).
He said: "It is very important to try to reduce unauthorised absence and I accept that the figures are very disappointing in that regard. If we can get persistent truancy down, it will have great benefits to communities and we are having a struggle doing that."
Labour committee member Gerry Steinberg lambasted the Government's approach to tacking truancy. He told Sir David: "The money you have been putting in to try to solve unauthorised absence is an absolute waste of resources."
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