Increase in fines for parents who take children on holiday during school term

A study confirmed that the number of parents being fined for taking their child out of school for a holiday has increased significantly.

17:22 11 March 2014

Parents in England and Wales have a legal responsibility to make sure that their children go to school. Failure to do so is in violation of Section 444 of the Education Act 1996. Now, it has been revealed by a BBC study that the number of parents being fined for taking their child out of school for a holiday is greater than before.

According to the research, which was conducted by BBC One’s Breakfast programme, the number of fines issued have increased by more than 70%. It also revealed that there were almost 5,300 fines during the autumn term as tallied by the 34 councils who responded.

Ron Collinson, Liverpool City council's head attendance officer, said that imposing fines helped improve attendance rates.

"We have the best figures for the autumn term that we've ever had," he said.

"Part of that improvement is certainly due to this particular piece of work."

Meanwhile, a Department for Education spokesman said: "Poor attendance at school can have a hugely damaging effect, and children who attend school regularly are nearly four times more likely to achieve five or more good GCSEs than those who are regularly absent.

"That is why we have given schools more power to tackle poor attendance and allowed them to intervene much earlier.

"We are giving all schools the autonomy to set their own term dates.

"We want to see more parents asking schools to consider changes to term and holiday dates that will work for pupils and their families."