TRUANCY SWEEPS
What are they?
The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 gave the police the power to ‘remove’ from public places children whom they believe are truanting, and either return them to school or hold them in a ‘designated place’. The Police Reform Act 2002 extended the power to the British Transport Police.
The powers can only be used with the approval of a police officer of the rank of Superintendent (or higher), for a specified period of time and in a specified area. Before a sweep can be authorised, the local authority must make arrangements for a place to hold truants who cannot be returned to school (a ‘designated place’) which cannot be a police station: truancy is not a criminal offence.
Sweeps can only be carried out by uniformed police officers, and government guidance recommends that a police officer is accompanied by an Educational Welfare Officer (EWO).
Every year, the Government authorises two truancy sweep ‘initiatives’ – two periods of a few weeks when all police forces and local authorities are expected to carry out a series of sweeps.
What’s our problem with truancy sweeps?
Ø They are a humiliating and degrading way to treat any person, no matter what their age
Ø Many children truant for a reason – for example, because of bullying. Simply returning them to school when they are frightened to be there is little short of cruelty
Ø Two-thirds of the children stopped during truancy sweeps have perfectly valid reasons for being out – and the police accept those reasons. Being stopped and challenged when they are going about their lawful business upsets or angers many children – just as it would an adult
Ø Truancy sweeps simply are not having any effect. They may ‘look good’, but all the money and police time spent on sweeps over the last few years has not had any effect on the truancy figures. They are a waste of time and money.
Ø The annual cost of sweeps would pay the salaries of a large number of EWOs who could work with persistent truants, and deal with any underlying causes of truancy
Ø Education is important both for children and society as a whole. Simply putting ‘bums on seats’ in schools does not provide an education. Children who are not enjoying and getting benefit from the education on offer need provision that they can enjoy
Ø Truancy sweeps are a lazy and simplistic measure. The money and resources currently wasted on them should be concentrated instead on ways of engaging young people with their education that actually work!
We have a history with truancy sweeps and have opposed them on several grounds since they were first introduced. Want to read more? click here