Council issues 1,721 term time absence fines

Unauthorised school absences resulted in 1,721 fines being issued in Warwickshire during the current academic year.

Jo Monk, a Warwickshire County Council service manager for school attendance, said "a lot" of the fines related to term-time holidays.

The authority issued a similar number of fines in the previous two academic years, 1,716 in 2024-25 and 1,694 in 2023-24.

A parent can be referred to the education authority for a fixed penalty notice of £160 if they withdraw their child from school for five school days without permission from a headteacher.

Addressing the children and young people's overview and scrutiny committee, Monk explained: "There is a very clear framework, that leave of absence in term time should be in exceptional circumstances and it is the decision of the headteacher to authorise that or not.

"The vast majority of our penalty notices issued, certainly for the past academic year, were in relation to leave of absence, so that is parents choosing to take a holiday during the term time."

Penalty notices can be issued if refused leave is taken, and the council has discretion to issue one before the standard five-day threshold is met if it "believes a penalty notice would be appropriate in an individual case".

The guidance added: "An example of this is where parents are deliberately avoiding the national threshold by taking several term-time holidays below threshold, or for repeated absences for birthdays or other family events."

The tariff can be halved to £80 for the first offence provided it is paid within 21 days but if a parent is fined again within three years, the full cost applies.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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