SURREY County Council has refuted recent reports that truancy patrols are ineffective and a waste of valuable resources as it announced that the county's figures buck the national trend.
The national truancy rate has increased as schools tighten up what they accept as a valid reason for absence, which has seen a reduction in authorised absence.
A recent survey conducted by Action by Rights for Children stated that one in three children stopped were identified as truants.
However, Surrey patrols indicate that 41 per cent of those stopped were supposed to be in school, 1,148 children were stopped in the past academic year and 478 were logged as "out without justifiable reason".
The patrols were carried out in partnership with Surrey Police and the county's dedicated truancy team's education welfare officers over the past four years.
Whereas most other authority areas carry out patrols twice a year, they were carried out in Surrey on a weekly basis throughout the year. Previous figures for Surrey show that the number of children identified on patrols has dropped from 1,407 in 2002/03 to 1,148 in 2004/05.
However, the number of pupils identified as absent without justifiable reason has increased. This is mainly due to the year on year targeting of patrols based on previous patrol data, police officers' local knowledge, information on "hot spots" from joint action groups, as well as a reduction in local school absence rates.
"Surrey has achieved excellent results in tackling truancy despite what is happening in the rest of the country," said Surrey County Council's executive member for schools and communities.
"The work of Surrey's truancy team is to identify and deter truancy in order to protect the young people of Surrey."
An area of great concern is when children are found with their parents in shopping centres when parents stated that they were absent due to illness. Last year, this excuse was given 109 times, however the council do not see this as a legitimate reason as the child should be kept at home when unwell.
Thirty-five children when stopped were recorded as having a medical appointment. In such cases, a teacher is notified to judge whether to authorise an absence for a whole day.
If after a follow-up with the headteacher a child's attendance is identified as poor, a penalty notice warning letter is sent to parents and if there is no improvement after 15 school days, then a penalty notice and a £50 can be issued.
Truancy patrols can also highlight shortfalls in child protection and safeguarding issues.
During the last academic year, referrals were made to social assessment teams on eight children who were either identified as "children in need" or "at risk of significant harm".
Young people who truant from school are also running the risk of becoming targets of crime. The county council said that there has been cases when children are not with an "appropriate" adult when stopped and parents are often grateful when they are contacted.
Any parent or guardian who is experiencing problems with their child's school attendance should contact their school or an education welfare officer for support.