SECURITY guards at Manchester Arndale Centre are to get tough on truants by reporting them to education bosses.

Guards will have the right to stop and question all school-age children in the centre during school hours.

Children with adults may be questioned to ensure they are absent from school for a valid reason and details of unaccompanied children will be passed on to the Education Welfare Service who will send parents a letter reminding them of their legal and parental responsibilities.

Parents who repeatedly fail to send their children to school could face a fine.

Executive member for education, Coun Jeff Smith, said "The Arndale is a magnet for young people and our regular truancy sweeps show that it draws young people truanting from schools both in Manchester and beyond."

Swoops

However, some traders fear that the initiative will have little real effect. Security guards have not been given permission to remove truants from the centre and have little influence over parents who give false reasons for their children's absence.

Although the Trafford Centre has had several "truancy swoops" it is does not directly contact the Education Welfare Service and is almost powerless against parents who choose to allow truancy.

At the Arndale Centre, Alan Grundy, manager of The Works and a father of four, commented: "I don't think it will make much difference. Most of the truants are with their parents, so they'll just talk their way out of it."

With over 4,500 unauthorised absences recorded in Manchester secondary schools last year, some say any move is worthwhile. Ian Fenn, headteacher of Burnage High School, where attendance rates were deemed "unsatisfactory" in last year's Ofsted report, welcomed the move.

"It's an excellent idea, long overdue," he said. "I think this will certainly have an influence on Manchester city centre children who will soon hear of the move, but not on truants who come into the centre from other authorities. But anything that makes parents think twice about not sending their children to school can only be a good thing."