189 Plymouth parents fined for taking their children on holiday during term time

Since new Government regulations came into force last year, 189 parents in Plymouth have been fined for taking their children on holiday during term time.

Plymouth City Council received the alerts from schools across the city highlighting unauthorised absence for the reason of family holidays from 1 September 2013 to 24 January 2014.

The new government regulations mean Headteachers can no longer grant holidays during term time in ‘special circumstances’, only ‘exceptional circumstances’ which are classed as unavoidable causes such as illness or exclusions.

Amendments to the 2006 regulations removed references to family holidays and extended leave as well as the statutory threshold of ten school days. They also increased fine amounts to a maximum of £120 per child – £60 per parent per child. So if a family with two children go on holiday during term time, the likely fine will be £240.

The total amount of fines in this school year in Plymouth is £11,340 and the vast majority of the penalties issued have already been paid, although there are currently 14 pending court actions.

Councillor Nicky Williams, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, said: “We don’t want to fine families so we are reminding everyone of the changes and urging parents not to take their children on holiday during term time.”

Last year, before the new rules, 177 fines were issued in Plymouth for persistent unauthorised absence from school. The most common reason was parents’ failure to work with the Education Welfare Service to stop persistent absence. Fines can also be issued for persistent lateness, young people being allowed out in public places when they are excluded from school and parents’ failure to explain the reasons for persistent absences.

If fines are not paid, the Council must take parents to court for failing to ensure their child regularly goes to school (not for failure to pay the fine) and this can increase fines up to £2,500 or result in three months imprisonment.

The new regulations came about following the Taylor Report which stressed the importance of regular attendance at school. These extra measures are in addition the Government’s previous reduction in the national persistent absence target from 20 to 15 per cent.

Councillor Williams continued: “We have always worked hard with schools to ensure that reducing persistent absence is a top priority and continue to do so with the full support of teachers. As you would expect, it's proven that educational achievement is directly linked to attendance - pupils attending less than 85 per cent of the time are much more likely to achieve lower grades. In fact one study showed that pupils missing just 10 days at school were likely to drop one full grade at GCSE.

"A combination of these tougher regulations imposed by Government and the reduction in the unauthorised absence target means we are likely to continue to see an increase in the number of fines and prosecutions over the coming months and years.

“One of our biggest challenges in Plymouth is to reduce parentally condoned absence – this is classified as any time a child stays at home from school for any other reason than genuine illness or extenuating circumstances with their parent's knowledge. This sets an incredibly bad example for young people, as it teaches them that school doesn’t matter.

“All of these actions are designed to ensure that children and their parents understand the importance of a child regularly attending school to get the best education so they can reach their full potential.”

For more information about unauthorised absence from school, contact the Council’s Education Welfare Service on 01752 307404/05.