Huge change to school fines TODAY as parents face paying more for booking holidays outside term time

FROM TODAY parents whose children skip five days of school will have to pay a £160 fine in line with the government’s new attendance drive.

Families now intending on taking a holiday outside of term time will need to be wary of this truancy fine hike.

The change means fines for school absences across the country have now risen from £60 to £80, if paid within 21 days.

Beforehand, local authorities determined when to give fines to parents, so the process was different from council to council.

But now schools will have to give out a fine when a child misses 10 or more sessions (five days) for unauthorised reasons.

If you don’t pay a fine within 21 days, you will have to pay double – so that’s £160, whereas beforehand it was just £120.

According to the Department for Education, this rate is in line with inflation, and is the first time the amount has increased since 2012.

Parents can only pick up two fines within a three-year period.

But once this limit has been secured, extra actions like a parenting order, or prosecution, will be put in place.

If you’re prosecuted and are taken to court due to your child not attending school, you could be fined as much as £2,500.

Education secretary Gillian Keegan announced the plans in February and referenced the “worldwide rise in absence” with schools closing in lockdown and how student’s mental health has declined.

She said: “Our fantastic schools and teachers unlock children’s imagination, potential and social skills, which is why improving attendance is my number one priority.”

When are the fines given out?

If your child is off school and you have not been given advanced permission from the headteacher to take them out of school, the school and local council might take action.

However, your child’s school and local council are expected to support you to improve the child’s attendance before any measures are put in place.

At first they might issue a fixed penalty notice, which is otherwise known as a “fine”.

If this is not paid after 28 days, you might be prosecuted for your child’s absence from school.

If that does not resolve the attendance issue, the local authority might seek an education supervision order from the family court.

If the council thinks you require support getting your child to go to school, but that you are not collaborating, they can call court for an education supervision order.

In this instance, a supervisor will be allocated to assist your child into education.

The local council can do this instead of, or as well as, prosecuting you, meaning you would need to go to court.

You might be fined up to £2,500, given a community order, or jailed for up to three months.

Are there circumstances when the fines won’t be issued?

In some circumstances, the truancy fines will not be relevant.

For example, if your child is too ill to attend school, you won’t be fined.

Parents will also avoid being fined in the following circumstances:

• You have asked in advance and been given permission by the school for your child to be absent on that day due to exceptional circumstances.
• Your child cannot attend school on that day because it is a day you are taking part in religious observance.
• Your local authority is responsible for arranging your child’s transport to school and it is not available on that day or has not been provided yet.
• You are a gypsy/traveller family with no fixed abode, and you are required to travel for work that day, meaning your child cannot attend their usual school.