The ban on term-time holidays, which has resulted in long-running battles between schools and families, with thousands of parents being fined, is “blatantly unfair” and is undermining the importance of family life, MPs have argued.
Taking part in a debate on the strict measures that outlaw term-time absence other than in “exceptional” circumstances, MPs called for an immediate review of the policy, claiming that family life was being pitted against the classroom.
Children were having to miss important family events because schools were refusing to authorise even a day or two away, MPs were told, citing one four-year-old who was refused permission to attend his grandmother’s 60th birthday celebrations as it would have meant taking the Friday off school to travel.
The debate also highlighted the negative impact on the UK tourist industry, which has lost business during term time as a result of the restrictions. MPs heard that the Cornish economy had lost an estimated £44m in 2014 as a result of the policy. Inevitably, peak season prices have been driven higher to make up for those losses.
Leading the debate, Steve Double, Conservative MP for St Austell and Newquay, said: “Education is clearly vitally important. But it is not the only important thing in a child’s upbringing. While I support the aim of getting children to attend school regularly I fundamentally disagree that telling parents when they can and cannot take their children on holiday is the job of the state.”
“Every child is unique and it should be for parents to decide what is right and best.”
Double said the restrictions meant people who work in tourist areas were unable to take family holidays, as were lower- and even middle-income families who could not afford to go on holiday during peak periods. Families who once relied on charities for their holiday, often in September when prices were lower, had also lost out. “The message this policy sends out is that being in the classroom is more important than being with your family,” he said. “Something I fundamentally cannot support.”
The parliamentary debate was triggered after a petition on the issue gathered more than 120,000 signatures in a month.
Before the rules were introduced in 2013, headteachers had discretion to grant up to two weeks’ term-time leave to pupils with good attendance records. Now, if a parent takes a child out of school without the authority of the headteacher, they can be fined £60 per child by the local authority, rising to £120 if unpaid after three weeks.
Campaigners against the ban took heart earlier this month when John Platt, an Isle of Wight parent who took his seven-year-old daughter to Disney World in Florida during term time, successfully had a fine overturned after arguing that her unauthorised absence did not mean she failed to attend school regularly.
Platt refused to pay the initial £60 fine, which was then doubled when he failed to pay, and appeared before magistrates. Six months after the holiday and shortly before he was due to go on trial, the magistrates told Platt he had no case to answer.
Parents from the campaign group Parents Want a Say (PWAS) hope Platt’s case will set a precedent for other parents facing fines for their children’s unauthorised absence from school.
Craig Langman, PWAS chairman, said: “Term-time absence is definitely a separate issue to truancy. Truancy needs to be tackled more. This policy is a sledgehammer to crack a very small nut. Whatever the outcome of the debate, PWAS will continue discussions with MPs until the Department for Education decides to talk to us or amend the bill.”
A DfE spokesperson said it was a myth that missing school even for a short time was harmless to a child’s education. “Our evidence shows missing the equivalent of just one week a year from school can mean a child is significantly less likely to achieve good GCSE grades, having a lasting effect on their life chances.
“Heads and teachers are now firmly back in charge of their classrooms, and most recent figures show we have made real progress – with 200,000 fewer pupils regularly missing school compared with five years ago.”
Another father who was fined for taking his children to Poland in term time has launched a legal battle against the fines. Noah Myers took his two sons out of school for three days so they could support their cousin in an international weightlifting competition.
Myers has lodged an application for judicial review, claiming that the rules restricting term-time holidays are a breach of his human rights. If the test case succeeds, it would be the first successful challenge to the rules since they were introduced.
A second parents’ campaign group, the Parents’ Union, which backs Myers’s legal challenge, said: “Attendance is a complex issue and needs to be addressed with more sophistication and understanding of the wider modern world than the current regulation allows..
“It is clear the current situation is untenable. If the government will not repeal the current regulations, a full inquiry by the education select committee would enable the issue to be explored in depth with a view to finding a workable solution.”
The Local Government Association, representing 370 councils and boroughs across the country, has also called for changes to the policy. Official statistics show the new policy has led to a drop in the number of state school pupils taking authorised holidays in exceptional circumstances, but the proportion of those taking unauthorised holidays has barely changed, according to the LGA.
“Children’s education is treated with the upmost seriousness but it is clear that the current system does not always favour families, especially those that are struggling to meet the demands of modern life or have unconventional work commitments,” said Roy Perry, chairman of the LGA’s children and young people committee.
