asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many times Section 7 of the Education Act 1996 has been used by North Tyneside local education authority to prosecute people in the past five years.[HL6894]

We do not collect prosecutions data under the Education Act 1996 by local education authority. However, data from the court proceedings database (held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform) for the Tyneside Local Justice Area show the number of prosecutions under the Education Act 1996 as: four in 2000, six in 2001, 36 in 2002, 17 in 2003 and 10 in 2004. There were no prosecutions recorded specifically under Sections 444(1) or 444(1A) of the Act though we consider the figures provided may include offences under Section 444. Prosecutions for truancy related to Section 7 are brought under Section 444 of the Education Act 1996. Court proceedings data for 2005 will be available in Autumn 2006.