Truancy Patrols and Home Educated Children.

 

The bottom line of truancy patrols is what we always knew the bottom line was - that they are an illegitimate, inhuman, degrading and anti-democratic policing, that is only possible to conduct if you determine that some minorities are to become victims of its necessary absolutism.  The logic of truancy patrols is that you are wasting your time trying to make them decent.  They are intrinsically indecent and can never be otherwise, period. Truancy patrols are an abuse of the people and should be stopped!

 

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Response to Consultation: Truancy issue

 

AHEd's response to the 2007 consultation on government guidelines on elective home education to local authorities included the following response to the issue of truancy patrols:

 

"Current guidelines are not clear enough and encourage harassment and possible removal or arrest of a child and or parents by the police and there is a serious and growing problem with truancy sweep procedures for home educators, where truancy sweep officials do not know the law and do not understand home education. When the Crime and Disorder Bill was going through parliament many home educators asked for specific mention of home educators being exempt from the measure, but this was denied. Instead, the minister reassured us that the measures would not be applied to home educators saying that if a child said they were home educated no further action should be taken.

 

This promise has not been fulfilled and early guidance has been superceded by disasterous recommendations such as the phrase in the recent guidelines that "it is not always necessary to confirm a child's status when home educated." In our opinion, this is incitement to harass home educated children for proof of their status. It is not necessary to confirm the home educated status of the child unless the officer has reason to believe otherwise. If there is no other reason to disbelieve a parent or child claiming home educated status, this should not be questioned or require confirmation and they should be taken at their word. The belief that home educated children are subject to a requirement to prove their home educated status and to give their personal details to officials who have stopped and questioned them in a public place has no basis in law. The practice has resulted in harassment and illegal treatment of home educators and their children. Some examples include:

 

• Large numbers of parents reporting harrassment to prove their home educating status rather than being believed when there is no reason to doubt them

• a home educated child abducted from the street by the police, despite the local postman intervening to tell the officials that he knew the child, and the children of the family were all home educated

• A family being stopped in the street by officials who pulled up and alighted from a van, detaining the family in the rain for twenty minutes whilst they were questioned and forced to give their personal details under duress to prevent further distress to the children

• Families threatened with arrest if they do not give their personal details for checking

• A tutor and child on an educational visit removed from an art gallery and quizzed in a private room

• A family flagged down in their car to be questioned about possible truancy

• Random truancy sweeps, not notified or in a designated area, with unauthorised questioning of families and children

• Police and LA staff in truancy sweep procedures giving home educators their view that all children should be in school

 

Consequently, this issue requires urgent remedial attention. If you would genuinely like to promote good relations between home educators and local authorities, local authorities should be properly advised that truancy procedures are not applicable to home educators and that if they are informed that a child is home educated, no further action should be taken. This promise was made to us in parliament. The family/child should be allowed to continue about their lawful business, as the minister promised us. A history of broken promises and routine mistrust of home educating families does not promote good relations."

 

AHEd is seriously concerned that this growing problem has resulted in an effective curfew on home educating families.

 

Local Authority Policies

 

Milton Keynes:

 

Milton Keynes briefing paper to truancy sweep officials indicates the presumption of guilt and a requirement to prove one's status with the clear threat of possible arrest or removal of the child and an incitement to interogate the child on their home education before they can be believed. This is a gross infringement of civil liberties and many children faced with being stopped and questioned by authority figures who demand that they should justify themselves or face removal and possible arrest of the parent, would also find it very intimidating. Certainly, when truancy actions are purported to exist to protect child welfare, it would be hard to argue that taking them to a police station would be best for their welfare!

 

In order to provide correct legal information in their own defence, some home educators have responded to the ignorance of patrol officials regarding home education by taking a small card with legal information and a reference to guidance and government promises that our children are not subject to the provisions and should not be detained or required to give personal details whilst going about their lawful business,  these are viewed with disdain. Here is the Milton Keynes briefing paper (September 2007.)

"EDUCATED AT HOME

We have experienced problems where pupils are educated at home, parents can sometimes refuse all details.

Ultimately if we suspect an offence and details are refused we could arrest (don't think custody Sgt. would be too impressed).

they may produce some kind of I/D or a letter, but invariably this is 'home made'.

Explain that we have the welfare of the child at heart, and it is not unknown for people to lie to the Police to avoid prosecution.

One way round may be for them to explain how they go about educating at home, anyone who does will be quite knowledgeable.   Ask about web-sites," (two websites quoted.)

"We hope to resolve this problem in the near future, remain reasonable and try to use common sense."

 

 

Brighton and Hove:

 

Note this promise to home educators made in the house of Lords during the progress of the bill and recorded in Hansard:

http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm199798/cmstand/b/st980609/am/80609s08.htm

"Many children are properly and lawfully educated at home and the provision would not apply to them. A child who is not a pupil at a school cannot be absent without authority from it. There is no need, therefore, for an amendment. The power is to be used only with respect to children who are absent from school without authority."

 

Here is the published policy of Brighton and Hove:

 

Truancy Patrols

 

No child may be out of school without a valid reason. The Education Welfare Service (EWS) carry out regular patrols across the city both on foot and in police vehicles. 

 

Reasons for being out of school include:

 

• travelling to or from a medical or dental appointment.
• a pre-arranged absence from school for family reasons or for religious observance.
• travelling to or from a work experience placement.

 

Stopping Children

 

 

A uniformed Police Officer accompanied by an Education Welfare Officer (EWO) will stop all children who are out of school during school hours and who appear to be of school age whether they are accompanied by an adult or not.

 

 

What will happen if my child is stopped?

 

The EWO will have monitoring forms to complete in all cases, whether the reason for absence is genuine or not. Brighton & Hove City Council's Education Welfare Service (EWS) would ask all children and adults to support the truancy initiatives by giving the details required. Only by having this information is the EWS able to evaluate the process.

 

The details requested are:

 

• child's name;
• family address and telephone number;
• name of person accompanying (if child is accompanied);
• name of parent;
• child's date of birth;
• school attended (if the child is a registered pupil);
• reason why child is out of school;
• child's ethnicity.
•  

The EWO will also record:

 

• location where the child was stopped;
• details of the Police Officer and EWO carrying out the patrol.

 

 

What will happen next?

 

If the pupil is out of school without good reason he/she will be encouraged to return to school that day or even be escorted by police vehicle to the school premises and handed over to a member of the school staff.

If the child is considered to be "at risk" he/she may be accompanied home or in extreme cases to a "place designated by the Police as a safe place for the duration of the patrol". Contact will then be made with the child's parent or carer.

 

Within the next few days each of the parents/carers of all pupils stopped will receive a letters from the EWS Head of Service regardless of whether the absence was considered to be authorised or not.

Should a truancy patrol identify a case of unauthorised absence, the parent will be issued with a warning letter. A Fixed Penalty Notice may follow.

 

What if my child is not a registered pupil at a school?

 

The EWO will still take the information detailed above for monitoring purposes.

 

The patrol is aware of a number of pupils are "educated otherwise than at school" and will record that on the form.

 

The parents of home-educated child would be well advised to explain to him/her about the likelihood of truancy patrols. 

 

If you have not been able to secure a school place for your child, for instance if you are new to Brighton & Hove, the patrol will pass the child's details to the School Admissions team.

 

For more information please contact the Education Welfare Service

Education Welfare Service

Brighton & Hove City Council

Kings House

Grand Avenue

Hove

BN3 2SU

Tel: (01273) 293567

Fax: (01273) 293547

 

 

Home educated children must be free from fear of being detained or disbelieved when they encounter truancy patrols, and must be allowed to go on their way. However, this is an abuse of all families as the following letter to a newspaper demostrates ...

 

Parent's Letter to local Press

 

(Argos: Friday 28th September 2007.)

 

"I opted to keep my eight-yearold son off school for two days this week due to a heavy and obviously contagious head cold.

 

I informed West Hove Junior School so he could be officially recorded as "off sick". At 9.30am I proceeded to walk from my home in Bolsover Road, Hove, to Boundary Road to obtain some urgent food items and medicine for my son. On route we stopped off at Woolworths so my son could buy a toy (to make him feel better).

 

After about ten minutes I was approached by two female police officers and questioned about why my son was not at school. While I agree with the current Government objectives regarding stamping down on truancy, the way both myself and my eightyear- old sick son were dealt with was completely over the top.

 

Having asked me for identification and taken further details of my son, the WPCs made a phone call and a check was made with his school to corroborate my story. If this was the end of the story I think we would all have carried on about our business quite happily. But, after obtaining confirmation that we were bona fide, one of the WPCs then took it upon herself to cross examine my son.

 

We were then told a call had been made to the welfare officer and we would have to wait until they arrived. By this time I had paid for my items in Woolworths and the officers were waiting to continue their questioning in the street. A street close to the seafront on a windy day in autumn with a sick eight-year-old in tow. When the welfare officers finally arrived I was subjected to another bout of questioning relating to my son.

 

During my ordeal it was made clear to me on more than one occasion that if I were not to cooperate I could be arrested or suffer an on-the-spot fine.

 

By this time I was starting to feel worried that this was going to escalate further and my son was going to be subjected to a trip to the local police station.

 

I really was made to feel that I was in the wrong and it will make me think twice about taking my children out of school in the future if they are unwell - which is a wrong thing to do as this only leads to diseases spreading.

In a city rife with crime - Bolsover Road has been subjected to two acts of vandalism and two acts of theft over the recent summer months - I cannot believe the lengths the authorities went to with both myself and my son, especially as there is a perfectly adequate process in place to manage absenteeism between West Hove School and its pupils and guardians.

 

Finally, please can everyone involved in this initiative to remove truant youngsters from our streets - which is great - keep things in perspective and stop using a sledgehammer to crack a nut."

 

Public Consent?

 

 

 

 

Are these patrols really consistent with a free people and a democratic system of government? Do we really consent to this kind of policing? Isn't it time that we withdrew our consent?

 

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