Written question asked by Keith Vaz (Labour) on Thursday, 2 February 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 6 February 2006. It was answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern (Labour) on Tuesday, 14 February 2006 on behalf of the Department for Education and Skills.

Bullying

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what statistics her Department (a) collects and (b) publishes on bullying in schools in England.

Answer: The Department does not collect national data on instances of bullying in England and schools. However, there are surveys run by, or supported by, the Department which do give an indication of the extent of bullying in schools in England.The Department contributes funds to the Department for Work and Pensions' ‘Families and Children Study'. This is an annual survey of a representative sample of families with dependent children in Britain. The study includes questions to parents and children on bullying (either in or out of schools). Reports from this study are published by DWP and are available from http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/facs/facs_publication.aspThe Department also runs the Longitudinal Study of Young People in Education (LSYPE) which is following a sample of young people in schools in England from Year 9 onwards. This survey covers pupils in both maintained and independent sectors and includes questions to parents and children on bullying. Although data from the first wave of this study are not yet available there are plans to make the data publicly available from the UK Data Archive.

Secondary information