In a bid to cut down the number of parents taking their kids away during term time, the government has raised the per parent fine from £60 to £80 per child, with the number to be doubled if it happens again within three years.
Parents hit by fines for taking their kids on term time holidays say they’ll do it again, despite the penalty being hiked.
The problem of absenteeism in the UK is getting worse. More pupils in England were off school without permission in the last week of the summer term than at any point in the academic year, official government figures show. An alarming 5% of pupils were off without permission in the week ending 19 July, totalling around 450,000 pupils.
In a bid to cut down those figures, the government has raised the per parent fine from £60 to £80 per child, with the number to be doubled if it happens again within three years. Those with a third fine in a three-year period now face prosecution.
Many parents argue that the cost of a fine is still less than the money they save by taking their kids out of school during the state-school summer holidays, which run from mid-July to early September in England. Private school summer holidays tend to be much longer, allowing wealthier families to scoop up the bargain breaks.
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Megan Hall and her husband Michael were fined for taking their two children on a ski holiday in March. They have now booked a two-week holiday later this month. “The kids will be missing 10 days of school, which is a worry because of the new fines,” Megan told the BBC.
As the couple run a pub and bed and breakfast in Northumberland, if they take their four and eight-year-old away during the summer holidays, they face the double cost of more lost income and a more expensive holiday.
“I won’t stop doing holidays because that’s what family is about. The alternative is to not have family time, or to teach your kids to lie, saying they are sick, which is something I’m not happy to do,” she added.
Earlier this year Rebekah Richardson, 38, and Dale Wood, 46, were fined £2k for taking their kids on holiday during term time, but still saved £3.2k on the cost of the trip – and say they have “no regrets”. The couple wanted to take their children – Jacob, eight, and Oliver, seven – on a once-in-a-lifetime holiday to Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida, US. But when they compared the price of going in September during term time to the October half term they were astonished to see a £5k price difference.
They decided to instead go during the school term, but then said they are “struggling to cope” due to the huge fines from their local authority. Derbyshire County Council issued a fixed penalty notice, otherwise known as a fine, to both parents – ordering Rebekah to pay £924 and Dale £1,044.
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“I have no regrets as a parent – I think you can’t ever regret spending time together as a family. The fine situation it’s like Russian roulette – some get fined, some don’t, which is unfair. Either every parent gets fined or none you can’t pick and choose – I don’t think we should get criminal records,” Dale said at the time.
Another mum, Rachel Smith, says she has saved £10,000 on unauthorised trips away with her kids by avoiding bumped up school holiday prices, a sum which far outstrips the fines she received upon her return. The 33-year-old takes her two children Brayden, 11, and Elianna, nine, out of school every year during term time to go on holiday abroad, and says she saved £3,000 just last year alone.
The single mum, who works in finance, took her children to Majorca and Magaluf in May and June rather than peak-season August. While she regularly receives £60-per-child fines, she says the decision is a “no brainer” as “it’s nothing compared to the cost of holidays in the school holidays”.
Close to 400,000 penalty notices were issued to parents in England for unauthorised school absences during the 2022-23 academic year – much higher than pre-pandemic levels.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has warned that “persistent absenteeism” is “a big problem”. Before the general election she said it was a “mark of disrespect” for kids to miss class for no good reason as skipping school harms their life chances and causes disruption to other children. Parents must take responsibility for ensuring their children go to school or risk fines, she warned.