No shit, Sherlock.

From the BBC:

Persistent absence from school is five times higher in England's poorest areas than in the richest, government figures show. Some 50,000 children in the poorest neighbourhoods are absent one day a week on average, according to an analysis by the Conservatives... The worst local authority was Manchester, with 6.7% persistent absentees. The best mainstream authority was Rutland, on 2.1%.

OK, the Tories have waded into the debate: are they going to tackle causes or symptoms?

Shadow children's secretary Michael Gove said... "We need to focus on these areas, giving extra money to schools that take children from the most deprived backgrounds, so that we can give these children the opportunities which others take for granted. This is yet another block on social mobility from a government which has failed to help the poorest in society."

Symptoms it is, then! And it's nice to see the government hit back with a good old-fashioned lie, or an irrelevance at best:

Schools minister Vernon Coaker said overall levels of absence were at their lowest ever. "If you look at some of the most challenging areas, the needs there are extremely complex. That's why schools are working with other children's services, working with families, in order to try to ensure that we get children where we want them, that is in school."