Council keeps up tough stance on term time holidays

Council will carry on fining parents if they take their children out of school

WEST Berkshire Council has warned parents it will carry on fining them for taking children out of school for holidays during term time, despite last week’s landmark High Court ruling.

Councils currently have the power to issue a £60 fine if a child’s absence is not authorised by the school, under laws introduced in 2013.

But with the cost of going away during school holidays rocketing, an increasing number of parents are prepared to pay the fine to potentially save thousands on high-cost holidays.

In West Berkshire, the number of fines issued for unauthorised absence has more than doubled in the last five years.

Last week, in the High Court case, senior judges ruled in favour of a Hampshire father who refused to pay a fine for taking his daughter to Florida during term time, without permission.

The High Court ruled that parents wouldn’t break the law if their child’s attendance over the rest of the academic year was sufficiently ‘regular’.

The ruling has divided opinion among the district’s headteachers – and reignited the debate about whether it should be deemed a criminal offence.

Kennet School headteacher Paul Dick’s position is very clear: “Holidays in term time are very damaging to children’s education and life chances and the school remains opposed to unauthorised absence.”

But Upper Basildon Primary School headteacher Paul Field took a more relaxed view. He said: “If a parent who fully supports their child’s education, and whose child regularly attends school asks me if they can take their child on a holiday, who am I to say no?

“Holidays can benefit children and families and give them important time together and experiences that can last a lifetime. If people are open with me and I feel they fundamentally support their child’s education and they attend regularly, then I don’t feel I should be telling them they can’t.”

Newbury MP Richard Benyon said he ‘sympathised’ with parents who could not afford to take their children away during the holidays, but added that children’s education ‘must always come first’.

West Berkshire Council said it had a ‘duty’ to consider legal action against parents where their children have unauthorised absence from school.

Do you think parents should be able to take children out of school for term-time holidays without facing criminal action providing their attendance is otherwise exemplary?

Or do you think it could harm their education? Email your views to dan.cooper@newburynews.co.uk

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