Sharp rise in parents fined for taking children out of school: BBC

The number of fines issued to parents for taking children out of school during term time has increased by more than 70%, research for BBC One's Breakfast programme has suggested.

The programme makers put in requests for information from 76 of the 152 local authorities with responsibility for education.

The 34 councils to respond revealed that they imposed nearly 5,300 fines in the autumn term of 2013. Twenty-six reported an increase in the number of parents fined, while two saw a decrease and six imposed no fines at all.

Overall, the average increase for the local authorities that responded was 74%, the BBC said.

The Government introduced new regulations on term-time absence in September 2014.

This means head teachers are no longer able to grant absence during term time unless it is under “exceptional circumstances”.

According to the BBC, the number of parents fined by Liverpool City Council rose from 97 in the autumn of 2012 to 250 a year later.

Ron Collinson, Liverpool’s head attendance officer, told the BBC: "We have the best figures for the autumn term that we've ever had. Part of that improvement is certainly due to this particular piece of work."

Hayley Roberts, a specialist in education law at Browne Jacobson, said: “This spike [in fines] suggests the measure has had little impact on attendance, which may well disappoint the government. Introducing the fine system was not a fundraising exercise – it was designed as a deterrent to parents taking children out of school.

“These statistics suggest it has not been that successful, perhaps understandably as the potential savings achieved by going on holiday during term time dwarfs the £60 fine.The new rules have only been in place for six months so it is perhaps too soon to gauge their success. Saying that, if the spike becomes a trend over the next 12 months, most will say the measures have failed to achieve their aim.”