EXTRA 'sweeps' to catch children truanting from school will take place throughout York and North Yorkshire over the next few weeks as part of a major crackdown.

Regular sweeps, which involve children being questioned by a police officer and social worker, will now be stepped up as part of a new Government campaign.

Any child of school age, who does not have a relevant pass will be questioned, taken back into school and their parents informed.

Every day, throughout the country, 50,000 children miss out on education through truanting, and according to OFSTED, 80 per cent of pupils found on truancy sweeps are with a responsible adult. The Government scheme includes a poster campaign which will appear in shopping centres and high streets to drive home to parents they have a vital part to play in ensuring young people attend school.

According to City of York Council's assistant director of education, Murray Rose, truancy figures for York are improving in the city. He said at present figures were just below the national average, but truancy was still an issue.

He said: "People tend to congregate in the city centre, one of the issues in the past was people who truant getting involved in things like shoplifting which is a problem for city centre shops. It is not just in the city centre, occasionally we will go out to areas around schools and patrol areas such as bus shelters."

Mr Rose said the benefits of cracking down on truancy were not just to prevent crime, but also to help the children truanting.

He said: "We often catch children that are quite vulnerable, they often truant because they have a problem at home and by catching them we can deal with that."

Meanwhile the Government has announced parents will be given 12 weeks to get children who repeatedly play truant to lessons or face a £2,500 fine, or even jail.

The fast-track approach will be tried out in eight areas from January - although none in North Yorkshire - before being extended to other areas later next year. Parents who fail to act in 12 weeks will be taken to court, where they could be given a parenting order, a fine of up to £2,500 or - in extreme cases - jailed.

Education Minister Ivan Lewis said: "What starts as 'bunking off' the occasional lesson can spiral to missing out on vital stages in a child's education.

"This feeds into a cycle of underachievement and disaffection which can lead to crime and drug and alcohol misuse.

"As a Government we are determined to tackle this, but if we are going to make a real difference it is absolutely vital that parents also shoulder their share of responsibility."

Updated: 10:38 Wednesday, December 04, 2002