The Department for Education and Skills looks to be losing ground in its battle against truancy. Having remained at the same level for many years, the level of truancy has suddenly increased - to over 0.8% of school days.
John Redwood is a young man but, let's face it, so was Margaret Thatcher in 1975.
This report raises a serious question mark over the amount of efficiency savings the government will achieve. This is a high risk program. Only 50 out of 300 projects have got to deliver 80 percent of the total savings.