Thousands more Midlands parents fined for taking their child out of school
The number of parents being fined for their children missing school has increased dramatically in the space of a year, new figures show.
Across the Black Country and Staffordshire in 2017/18, schools handed out 12,139 fines – a major increase on the 2,618 handed out in 2016/17.
The rise is believed to be down to the supreme court ruling of April 2017, which confirmed it was up to schools to rule on absences.
In Wolverhampton, the number of penalty notices have increased from 487 to 1,774.
Meredith Teasdale, Wolverhampton's Council education director, said: “No child should be taken out of school without good reason, and by permitting their children to be off school in anything other than exceptional circumstances, parents are not only undermining the work of their school but also compromising their child’s learning and development.
“The council only issues fixed penalty notices in the case of unauthorised absences for term time holidays, and only in instances where we are asked to do so by schools.”
Dudley saw the biggest rise in the number of fines handed to parents, with 2,269 issued last year compared to 222 the previous year.
Martin Samuels, Dudley Council's strategic director for people, said: "During 2016/17, the authority did not issue penalty notices. This was due to the ongoing High Court and Supreme Court hearings in relation to the Isle of Wight case. Following the outcome of this case, we resumed the issuing of penalty notices from September 2017, in accordance with the national guidance.
"Since that judgement, most schools in the borough have adopted a policy of ‘zero tolerance’ with regards to holidays during term-time, with fines being issued to parents who take their children out of school without permission. The decision whether to approve or refuse term-time absence is one for individual schools. As a local authority, we support the school’s decision. If the request is refused by the school, the local authority is then responsible for issuing the fixed penalty notices.
“While we appreciate that some parents have difficult choices due to holiday entitlement and costs at different times of the year, children generally perform better from being in school as much as possible. We work hard to ensure parents understand their responsibilities.”
The number of penalty notices issued to Sandwell parents were up from 330 to 2,081.
Awareness
Sandwell Council's director of education, Chris Ward, said: "We have maintained a consistent response in relation to the issuing of penalty notices. Here in Sandwell, our policy is to support children’s entitlement to education and to review all absence referrals, received from schools and academies, on a case by case basis.
“The increase in penalty notices issued both nationally and in Sandwell reflects the increase in schools' awareness of the options available to them when challenging parents who choose to take their children out of school, during term time.
“The decision whether or not to grant a leave of absence in exceptional circumstances remains with headteachers and not the local authority. Penalty Notices are issued only at the request of headteachers following an unauthorised leave of absence."
A total of 2,710 parents were fined in Walsall in 2017/18, up from 793 in the previous year.
Across the border in Staffordshire, where around 143,000 children in education, the number of fines issued increased four-fold. There were 3,305 penalty notices issued in 2017-18, up from 786 in 2016-17.
Disregard
Philip White, Staffordshire County Council’s Cabinet support member for learning and employability, said: “Since the judgment in the Isle of Wight case has been handed down by the Supreme Court and ended uncertainty, we have consulted schools and updated our guidance accordingly.
“We continue to monitor school attendance and take appropriate action once a head teacher has decided that an absence is unauthorised. We fully support head teachers in their role when they take this decision and in challenging the small minority of parents that may choose to disregard the law.”
The National Association of Head Teachers has called on the government to intervene and sort out holiday prices to help tackle the problem of term-time pupil absences.
Paul Whiteman, the general secretary of the union, said: "The NAHT has clear and reasonable guidance on what constitutes exceptional circumstances.
"However, the system of fines is clearly too blunt an instrument and in many cases it drives a wedge between schools and families.
"The real problem is holiday pricing. Neither parents nor schools set the prices of holidays.
"They will both continue to be caught between a rock and hard place without some sensible Government intervention."
