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London has the worst primary school truancy rate in the country.
Almost 5,000 pupils aged 11 and under were absent from class without permission across the city every day, government figures suggest.
The truancy rate rose across England, with Greenwich suffering the highest rates of unauthorised absence of any local authority.
Experts blamed families taking children on holiday without permission during term time - when package deals tend to be cheaper - for inflating the unauthorised absence figures.
Critics said the Government's £1 billion drive to cut truancy had failed.
Shadow schools minister Nick Gibb said: "It's time to get to the roots of the problem, which are low levels of achievement and poor behaviour."
