A SECOND government scheme to tackle teenage troublemakers appears to have flopped in Wiltshire, according to latest figures.

Not one parenting order - a flagship measure to combat bad behaviour in schools was issued in the county in the first full year they were available (April 2001 to April 2002).

But the head of Swindon's Youth Offending Team says the figures are unrepresentative of the facts, because it has run a successful series of parenting classes since January 2001.

Karen McKeown of the council's YOT says that in the last year her team has issued 10 parenting orders.

The figure would be even higher, she explained, but the council lets parents who are having difficulties attend the parenting classes voluntarily before an order forces them to go.

A parliamentary answer revealed that 1,216 orders were issued in the 12 months to April 2002. Wiltshire was one of 33 areas that failed to issue a single order. No figures were available from the Department for Education for the number of parenting orders issued since then.

Mrs McKeown said: "The orders tend to be most effective with parents of younger children, aged between 10 and 14, where parents have more impact.

"I'm not surprised none were issued in the first year because courts take time to adjust to new things. Offences take time to come to court and they would need to have been committed after the orders became law.

"The 10-week, two hours a week programme is called Let's Talk and studies show parents who do it learn a great deal."

The course shows parents how to set boundaries of acceptable behaviour, how to speak to young people and encourages parents to draw on their own experiences as a young person.

Some areas issued more than 20 orders and two - Wigan and Wessex used the measure more than 100 times.

The release of the figures follows the Evening Advertiser's revelation that only one anti- social behaviour order (ASBO) has so far been introduced in Wiltshire the lowest tally in England.

Parenting orders, introduced in July 2000, were designed to help mums and dads make changes to the way they bring up their children, to improve their behaviour.

Lasting up to 12 months, they force parents to attend counselling or guidance sessions once a week for up to three months.

The child may also be required to attend a homework club, avoid contact with disruptive children, avoid certain areas, stay home at night or attend anger management courses.

An order can be issued when a child has been convicted of a criminal offence, been given a separate civic order or failed to comply with an order to attend school.

Coun Jim D'Avila (Lab, Moredon), the lead member for education, said: "I suspect we have not had the necessity to use these orders,. It is quite a drastic measure.

"There are many different policies focusing on the way children behave in schools. We call for more tolerance among pupils and aim to give teachers better training

A spokeswoman for Swindon Council said there were many other ways to tackle bad behaviour in schools, but insisted parenting orders should also be used in the worst cases.

She said: "The Government takes issues of bad behaviour and truancy extremely seriously and we have placed these at the heart of our reform agenda.

"In the small minority of cases where parents refuse to accept responsibility, it is important that schools and LEAs have some legal recourse."

Parents who fail to comply with the terms of a parenting order are investigated and can be fined up to £1,000.

However, the Department for Education insists most parents have "responded positively" with good attendance at counselling sessions.

The Government is now proposing to make it easier to introduce parenting orders, by allowing them to be imposed separately from other court proceedings.

And greater effort is being made to involve fathers, by making courses more "father friendly" and encouraging them to attend court with their children.