More than £340,000 worth of fines have been dished out to parents in Medway for unauthorised pupil absences over the last three years, it’s been revealed.
A Freedom of Information (FOI) request by Legal Expert has revealed the number of parents in the Towns that have been hit with the penalties.
Between 2021 and 2022, 1,740 penalty notices for unauthorised pupil absences were handed out to parents, amounting to £83,040.
In the 2022/23 period, 3,419 were given which means parents were fined a total of £163,860.
For this academic year, up until June 24, 2,563 fines have been issued, amounting to £97,320 worth of penalty notices.
It means Medway Council has handed out £344,220 in fines since 2021.
The FOI was compiled by law firm, Legal Expert which also says the council has confirmed hundreds more cases are being put forward for prosecution following unpaid fines.
From August, the government is introducing new rules that will increase the amount of money parents will need to pay if they are fined for taking their children out of school.
Under the current rules, it is the responsibility of the local authority to decide when to issue fines to parents – which means the process can vary from council to council across the country.
But a new national policy – being introduced in time for the start of the new school year in September – will insist that all schools will be required to consider a fine when a child has missed a set number of school days for unauthorised reasons, such as a family holiday.
The current penalty is £60 per parent, which rises to £120 if not paid within 21 days.
From August 2024, when the new policy is introduced, the fine for school absences across the country will rise to £80 per parent if paid within 21 days, or £160 if paid within 28 days.
This rate rise, says the Department for Education, is in line with inflation and is the first increase since 2012.
Parents who don’t pay the fine in time can be subjected to further action which could include an education supervision order, community order or a jail order.
However, head teacher at Valley Park School in Maidstone, David Jones, claims fines for unauthorised absences are becoming part of the cost of the holiday, rather than acting as a deterrent.
He says while many parents use the excuse that holidays can be educational, “most of the time people are enjoying themselves and taking a break.”
He added: “What you find is people who take their kids out of school have often factored the fine into the cost of what they’re doing anyway.
“I understand that fines are necessary, there needs to be a deterrent and a way to persuade parents not to make that decision.
“But for some parents, it just becomes another thing to pay and therefore it’s not the deterrent I think some people would hope it would be.”
In Medway, Legal Expert says the council confirmed 294 cases that were sent for prosecution following non-payment.
There were 1,165 instances where the fine was not paid within 21 days, which is 15% of the overall figure since 2021.
A Medway Council spokesperson said: “Schools are being both supported and challenged to adhere to the Department for Education guidance, the ‘Working Together to Improve School Attendance’ document, which becomes statutory in August 2024.
“The guidance is welcomed – it is written for all schools, trusts, governing bodies and local authorities, striving to improve and maintain high levels of school attendance.”
