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Education and Skills Bill

I am flattered that the Minister should intervene on me twice—and I say yes in a sort of Jeremy Paxman-esque way, with due cynicism. I have statistics in front of me on pupil absences in England; I am quoting a document produced on 25 October 2007, and I would be happy to share it with him afterwards. I stand by what I say: truancy today is at its highest level for a decade. If the Government cannot get all those truants to remain at school at age 16, how on earth will the Bill keep them at school until 18? The second point that I make to the Minister—again, I would be happy for him to intervene—is that rather than focus on the time spent in education and on the quantity of education, why do the Government not focus on the quality of education until age 16? Surely it is a failure of the Government to provide good education up to age 16 that explains why so many choose to leave school at 16.