Morris: truancy clampdown

The government has announced plans to put a permanent police presence in problem schools in a bid to tackle truancy and bad behaviour.

The £10 million plan was announced by the education secretary, Estelle Morris, on Monday.

Officers will conduct sweeps of local shopping centres, parks and public places to locate children playing truant.

They will also offer help and advice to the victims of bullying and tackle violence and bad behaviour amongst pupils.

The new crackdown will target up to 400 schools in London, Birmingham, Newcastle, Manchester and Liverpool.

A new police and schools protocol giving guidance on new partnerships between the police and schools has also been launched.

Morris told her audience that "the link between truancy and crime is too great to ignore" and vowed to tackle the problem.

She said that the scheme would "be voluntary" stressing it would be "for heads to make the decision" whether to have police operating from within their school.

But the education secretary warned that all schools had a responsibility to work closely with local police forces.

"I am not happy about any school in our country not having thought through whether there should be a relationship with the local police, and if so, what the nature of that relationship might be," she said.

Morris stressed that the emphasis of the new policing policy will be on low-key "prevention" and denied that they will be enforcing order in lawless schools.

The project will involve up to 100 officers, although ministers are stressing it will only go ahead with the consent of head teachers.

The government has already piloted a similar project in the crime hotspot of Southwark in South East London.

The announcement comes a day after the government signalled it is to introduce controversial new plans which would see the parents of young thugs losing their entitlement to benefits.