LOCAL schools are joining forces with the police and education officers to try and secure some of the £16 million set aside by the Government to crack down on truancy and juvenile nuisance.

Planning for a series of truancy sweeps throughout the district is already well advanced and the County Council will be supporting bids by local schools who are looking to install high-tech attendance monitoring systems.

The Government has made £16m available for computerised registration systems, and the county will be backing bids to help its schools get their share.

Lancashire's Education Welfare staff have already organised a series of successful truancy sweeps in the centre of Lancaster and Morecambe.

A county-wide sweep found 1,058 children were out of school, of which 766 were accompanied by a parent or guardian.

County Councillor Alan Whittaker, Cabinet Member for Education and Young People, said: " Lancashire has always taken the problems of school truancy and juvenile nuisance seriously, and I am glad to see the national spotlight turn on this important issue.

We have a good track record in the county, with truancy rates which are slightly below the national average, but this has not been used as an excuse for complacency on our part.

"We have already held a series of truancy sweeps across the county, and plans for another even wider swoop are well advanced."

He added: "Young people belong in school, and shouldn't waste their education.

Beyond the school gates it can be all too easy for them to be drawn in to anti-social and even criminal behaviour.

Lancashire, together with its community partners, is determined that this problem can be defeated."