Charity blasts eviction plans

Manchester Council is considering measures which could see parents
evicted for failing to stop their children truanting.

The council’s housing and education departments are discussing a
plan to make school attendance a condition of council house
tenancy.

Children’s charity Barnardo’s believes any such plans are “wholly
inappropriate”. Principal policy officer Nancy Kelley said:
“Children play truant for all kinds of reasons and this has to be
addressed as a support need for the child and family and not as a
punishment.

“Making a family homeless is going to damage relations and it’s not
going to improve school attendance. It seems like a misconceived
idea to me.”

A Manchester Council spokesperson said if the plans went ahead
there would probably be several interventions before any action was
taken against families or parents.