Some officers have been unhappy that fixed-term and permanent exclusions are listed as non-valid reasons for absence from school on the "record of person stopped" forms they must fill in during sweeps.
One principal education welfare officer told Children Now he was concerned that the figures for the number of children out of school without authorisation could be "manipulated to be shown in the best possible light" by including exclusion as a non-valid reason.
"You know you are going to pick up those pupils and it inflates the figures. So does it suggest that the patrols are being more effective than they might be?" he asked.
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