Fining parents doesn't prevent term-time holidays

Times

a day ago

The prospect of a fine is not putting parents off taking their children out of the classroom for holidays to beat high prices, research suggests.
A third of parents would remove their children from school in term time to take them on holiday, according to a survey by KPMG, the accountancy firm.
Of the 1,053 respondents with school-age children, a fifth said their entire holiday would be taken during term time to avoid peak summer travel costs. KPMG said parents between the ages of 25 and 34 were the most likely to take their children on holiday during term time.
Parents have paid a total of £41 million in fines since 2022, indicating that a number believed the savings made by ­travelling outside peak times outweighed the penalties.
Schools must send attendance figures each week to the Department for Education showing whether each absence was authorised, unauthorised or due to illness. The government website says schools are required to consider issuing a fine when a child has missed five or more days for 'unauthorised reasons'.
From August the fine was increased from £60 to £80. For a second unauthorised absence in three years the fine is £160. After a second fine, parents can be taken to court, where the penalty is up to £2,500. The 'vast majority of fines for unauthorised absence (89 per cent) are issued for term-time holidays,' the website says.
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KPMG's consumer pulse survey, which questioned people in early June, suggested that most households were financially secure. Of 3,000 adults, half said they felt able to spend freely and only 14 per cent indicated that they were still having to cut their discretionary spending to pay for essentials. Those respondents most commonly said they had spent less on dining out.
Of the 70 per cent who were planning to go on holiday this year, 34 per cent said it would be in the UK, 21 per cent said they were heading abroad and 15 per cent were doing both.
Linda Ellett, head of consumer, retail and leisure at KPMG UK, said: 'Many households have prioritised discretionary spend for their holiday but, considering both household essential costs and the price of travel have increased, it is little surprise to see three quarters of holidaymakers are still taking a variety of steps to get the cost of their break down where they can.'
Research from Currensea, a foreign currency debit card provider, suggested that two million parents had planned to take their children out of school for a term-time holiday this year.
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Last year, Pepe Di'Iasio, general ­secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said travel companies should be prevented from charging excessive prices during school ­holidays because fines for pupil absence had not created an effective deterrent.