The Labour government is being urged to reconvene an expert group set up to tackle the school absence crisis.

The call from the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) comes as schools continue to battle high pupil absence rates in the aftermath of the Covid pandemic and subsequent lockdowns.

ASCL wants Labour to restore the Attendance Action Alliance, which was first set up under former education secretary Nadhim Zahawi in a bid to “supercharge efforts to improve school attendance”. The group has not met since the general election was called in May.

Members of the group from across public sectors previously met once a month to address the wider underlying causes of school absence.

Calling for the group to be reconvened, Julie McCulloch, director of policy at ASCL and a member of the alliance, said meetings “brought together groups from across education, children’s, social and health services”, all of which had important insights to share.

She added: “As such, it would be a good thing for the new government to reconvene this group so that it could continue to come together on this vital issue.”

“Improving attendance, and tackling persistent absence, does require a coordinated, multi-agency approach, and it isn’t something schools can solve alone,” Ms McCulloch said.

Attendance tsar: ‘Continuation’ needed

Chief executive officer of Northern Education Trust, Rob Tarn, who was appointed as attendance tsar under the previous government, said he hoped a “continuation of the model, in whatever format, is considered by ministers”.

“Some of the pledges delivered by alliance members made a tangible impact on the effectiveness of work to improve attendance,” he said.

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Tes revealed last month how schools were hunting for attendance support in an effort to combat rising absence rates.

Chief executive of the Confederation of School Trusts (CST) Leora Cruddas said that the focus on “bringing people together across organisations and public sector boundaries worked well”.

Ms Cruddas, who was also a member of the alliance, said that its approach fitted with the “mindset of the opportunity mission” set out under the new Labour government.

However, Ms Cruddas said a national focus on pledges related to attendance worked less well.

‘Collaborative working to treat root of absence’

Ms Cruddas previously raised concerns about pledges rolled out under the previous government, telling Tes that, while she backed the expansion of attendance hubs, they would not be enough to fix the crisis without a “more systemic” approach.

The DfE expanded its attendance hub programme in January, as well as a £15 million expansion of its mentor programme for persistently absent pupils.

Meanwhile, Labour previously said it would use artificial intelligence to spot trends in absence as part of its long-term plans to tackle ongoing high levels of non-attendance.

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “Successfully treating the root causes of absence requires schools and local partners to work collaboratively in partnership with families.”

The spokesperson said that the DfE is already working on providing access to specialist mental health professionals, introducing free breakfast clubs in every primary and ensuring earlier intervention in mainstream schools for pupils with special needs.