18. The Government issued the guidance ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ in May 2022, and it has been widely welcomed both for the ‘support first’ ethos it promotes and the clearer expectations it sets out. It reflects best practice already in place across the system and was formulated following extensive informal consultation and joint working with the sector and with stakeholders representing pupils and families, including many of those who provided evidence to this inquiry. It was also subject to a formal consultation which ran for five weeks in January and February 2022.