Parents fined £5.6m for taking children out of school during term time

Parents have been fined a total of £5.6 million across England and Wales for taking their children out of school during term time.

Freedom of Information requests issued by Santander bank found that as many as 90,000 parents were issued fines over the last academic year, with issued by Lancashire County Council issuing 4,279, the highest number recorded.

The release of these figures follows the high profile case of Jon Platt, who won a High Court case and did not have to pay a fine for taking his daughter out of school.

Santander has said that the figures suggest the fines are not successful in deterring parents from taking children out of school, as they would rather take the fine from the school to avoid holiday price hikes.

The figure of £5.6 million represents a significant increase compared to 2012-13, when an estimated £1.5 million fines were issued.

The rules were tightened in 2013, which means only head teachers can authorise absences in term time for ‘exceptional circumstances’. Under the current system a fine of £60 can be issued to parents, which rises to £120 if the parent does not pay within 21 days.