Plymouth parents handed big fines for school absences as mums and dads urged to seek help if they're struggling

As the new academic year begins, Plymouth parents are being urged to seek help if they are struggling to get their children to school - or they will face sanctions or even hefty fines.

The Department for Education (DfE) recently stated that "every moment in school counts and days missed add up quickly" and parents have long been threatened with punative action for failing to ensure children attend school - including those who choose to take their children on holiday outside of the usual approved school breaks.

In July this year Plymouth parents were alerted by Plymouth City Council to a change in the "national framework for penalty notices" which came into effect on August 19.

The new rules - which were brought in by the previous Conservative Government and must be applied by every local authority - will see an increase in the penalty fine from £60 to £80 if paid within the first 21 days. If the fine is not paid in that time, it will rise to £160 - if the offending parents or carer cough up the cash within 28 days of the fine being issued.

However, if a second penalty fine is issued to the same parent for the same child within a three-year rolling period, the fine will automatically rise to £160 with no option to pay the lower rate of £80.

Parents and carers will be warned that if they then commit a third offence in a three-year rolling period "the local authority will need to consider other enforcement options available to them". In effect this can mean a parenting order or even being taken to court where parents can face bigger fines - or even imprisonment.

The government's statement, published online on February 29, 2024, explained that "currently, it’s the responsibility of the local authority to decide when to issue fines to parents, meaning the process varies from council to council. However, under the new national framework, all schools will be required to consider a fine when a child has missed 10 or more sessions (5 days) for unauthorised reasons."

In recent months PlymouthLive has reported on a number of parents - often the mothers - who have been hit with a large fine as well as court costs and - somewhat surprisingly - victim surcharges. The cases were all held at Plymouth Magistrates' Court where they were granted opportunity to give an explanation before they were sentenced.

The first failed to ensure that two children attended their registered school. As well as the £440 fine, the mum was ordered to pay court costs of £200 and a victim surcharge of £352, meaning that she must pay a total of £992.

The second mum up failed to ensure that a child attended school. In addition to her £440 fine, she must also pay court costs of £200 and a victim surcharge of £176, a total of £816.

Mum number three was also made to pay £816, made up of the £440 fine, £200 costs and a £176 victim surcharge.

Another parent was brought to court for failing to ensure their child was registered at a named school. They were fined £180, hit with a victim surcharge of £72 and were ordered to pay court costs of £250.

These cases are usually brought when a parent has repeatedly refused - or has been unable - to ensure their child attends school for repeated or long periods of school time due to a range of issues, rather than for choosing a cheaper holiday period.

The charity Parentkind carried out a poll of 1,000 UK parents earlier this year and found that while 96 percent of parents agreed that it was important that children should go to school everyday, almost a third of children had refused to go to school on more than one occasion over the previous year.

Their poll found that of parents who said their children have refused to go to school on more than one occasion in the last year, one in 10 (10 percent) missed two or more weeks of school, equivalent to 330,000 school children.

Not enjoying school is the biggest reason for children not going to school, with one in six (15 percent) of parents citing that as a reason their child missed school in the last year. The figure almost doubled (11 percent vs 20 percent) for parents of children in secondary school.

One in ten of the parents polled told the charity that lack of provision for SEN [Special Educational Needs] was a reason for their children missing school in the last year and one in 14 ( seven percent) of the parents polled told the charity that mental health was a reason for their children missing school in the last year.

Some exasperated parents have contacted PlymouthLive in the past claiming that their child was being bullied so badly that they felt they could not longer face going to school, while others have failed to attend school as they spend much of their time acting as carers for their ill parents.

There are also those parents who are left to deal with children who have become associated with problematic groups of youths or those who have been groomed into taking part in County Lines groups.

Local councils have powers to fine parents if their children do not attend school.

• A Parenting Order means you have to go to parenting classes to improve your child's attendance at school
• An Education Supervision Order can be obtained by the council if it believes you need support to get your child to school but are not co-operating with the authorities
• A School Attendance Order will be issued if the council believes your child is not getting an education and you will be given 15 days to provide evidence they are registered with the school named in the order or that they are being schooled at home
• Failure to comply with a School Attendance Order means a fine of £80, rising to £160 if you fail to pay within 21 days
• From this academic year, a parent will only get up to two fines for the same child in a three-year period
• A second fine within three years will rise to £160 and a court summons if you fail to pay within 28 days
• If your child is off school three or more times within the three years you may not be fined by the council but taken to court, like the aforementioned trio of Plymouth mums

Councillor Sally Cresswell, Cabinet Member for Education, Skills and Apprenticeships, said: “We cannot underestimate how important parents are in supporting their child to attend school every day. That’s why we encourage families to speak to a trusted member of staff at their child’s school, at the earliest stage, if they’re facing challenges or to email our Attendance Support Team at [email protected].

"We understand that barriers to attendance can be complex and that being a parent is not always easy.

"We are committed to working in partnership with families and schools to provide support. Working together, we can build a culture where attendance is valued and every child feels nurtured to thrive and supported to succeed."