Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the proportion of children persistently absent from school who have been the subject of a safeguarding referral in each of the last five years.

The Department does not hold the information in the format requested, but absence rates for children in need of support from social services are available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/outcomes-for-children-in-need-including-children-looked-after-by-local-authorities-in-england/2022.

This data relates to children in need, children on a child protection plan and children looked after by local authorities in England.

Persistent absence rates for these children at 31 March between 2016/17 and 2021/22 are available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/fast-track/bd25d934-c0b5-4de2-81df-75eec0e9bbbb.