Written question asked by Lord Brady of Altrincham (Conservative) on Wednesday, 18 December 2002, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 14 January 2003. It was answered by David Miliband (Labour) on Tuesday, 14 January 2003 on behalf of the Department for Education and Skills.

Dept for Education and Skills

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, how many pupils have been (a) permanently and (b) temporarily excluded from maintained schools in relation to drugs offences in each of the last five years.

Answer: Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many pupils have been (a) permanently and (b) temporarily excluded from maintained schools in relation to drugs offences in each of the last five years. [88884] Mr. Miliband: The information requested is not available centrally. Information on permanent exclusions is derived from Annual Schools' Census returns made by schools to the Department in January each year. This includes characteristics of the excluded pupil such as the pupil's age, gender and ethnicity. However, the reason for exclusion is not collected. However, on 20 January 2003 the Education (Pupil Exclusions and Appeals) (Maintained Schools) (England) Regulations 2002 will come into force, which require schools to report all fixed term exclusions to their local education authority. We are planning to collect information from local education authorities on both fixed term and permanent exclusions on a termly basis from this summer. This will capture the reason for the exclusion.

Secondary information