28th December 2016 1:00
By Blue Tutors
In an attempt to tackle absenteeism and improve attainment, in 2013 Michael Gove put in place a ban on term-time absence for family holidays. The ban was put in in response to confusion over the 2006 regulations stating that in “special circumstances” schools could grant up to 10 days of term time leave to students for the purpose of family holidays. The new ban not only removes this discretionary entitlement, only allowing heads to allow absence in “exceptional circumstances”, but shortened the timescales for payment of fines for unauthorised absence. Crucially, the change means that any parent taking their child out of school even a day early for the holidays is committing a criminal offense, and could be prosecuted by their local authority.
The ban has been extremely unpopular with parents, many of whom are unable to afford family holidays during the peak season, as well as the National Union of Teachers and the Local Government Association. Consequently, many MPs are not in support of this policy given its staggering unpopularity among their constituents, leaving central government with very little parliamentary support. Nevertheless, in its first year almost 64,000 fines of £60 or £120 per child were issued. Despite this, absence is at a five-year high; last year 1 in 13 children missed school for a holiday, either with or without school approval.
After magistrates overturned the decision to fine an Isle of Wight parents for taking his daughter out of school, the matter was taken to High Court. In what was labelled a “victory for common sense”, the High Court ruled that it is not illegal to remove a child from school as long as they have an good attendance record. This would allow parents to take children otherwise attending school regularly out of classes during term time for holidays, undermining the government’s strict ban. To date there have been six such cases in different local authorities across the country, all of which have been successfully won and paid for using crowdfunding.
It was announced on Wednesday, however, that one local council has been given the right to appeal the decision. It is in fact the Department of Education that will be leading the charge and footing the bill for the legal challenge in an attempt to set a precedent to salvage the enforceability of its holiday ban. This approach has been widely criticised, with the opposition saying that the way for the government to clarify laws is through parliament not at great cost through the court system.