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Daily Mirror

National

Ruki Sayid

MPs and families demand end to school holiday rip-offs as breaks cost 81% MORE

Fed-up families are demanding a school holidays overhaul as they pay up to 81% more for a break outside term time.

MPs joined the call for terms to be staggered as a Mirror probe revealed the cost of a holiday can rocket by over £1,000 in August.

Shadow Education Secretary Angela Rayner said: “It’s not right that kids’ education is being used to exploit hard-working parents.”

A government shake-up of the school holiday system is being demanded with families paying up to 124% more for sunshine breaks once kids are on leave.

The Mirror found the great summer holiday rip-off will yet again burn a massive hole in family budgets as prices can rise by more than £1,000 in August, compared with early July when children are still in class.

Every family deserves a holiday (Getty Images)

Cross party politicians and family organisations want an end to the sky high prices that hammer millions of hard working Brits who save up for their only sunshine break of the year with the family.

The travel industry yesterday defended the rocketing costs of the foreign package breaks and also called for the Government to re-draw the school timetable and stagger holidays.

Teaching unions said school attendance is vital for children and instead said the Government should focus on the travel companies.

Shadow Education Secretary Angela Rayner criticised so - cal led “dynamic pricing” for penalising parents.

A girl makes a sandcastle on a beach in Bridlington (PA)

She told the Mirror: “Eye-watering, rip off holiday prices mean many families choose to take their kids out of school or simply don’t get a break at all.

“It’s not right that children’s education is being used to exploit hard-working parents in this way.”

Conservative MP Steve Double is campaigning on the issue and fighting the Government’s strict policy that fines parents who take children out of school for a sunshine trip abroad as it is the only affordable option.

Department for Education figures show the number of penalty notices for pupil absence has rocketed by 75% year-on-year with unauthorised family holiday absence accounting for 85.4% of the cases.

Between 2017-18, parents were fined £10 million for taking kids out of school without permission with fines ranging from £60 to £120 for those not coughing up within 21 days.

His stand comes as Mirror research found a family of two adults and two children aged 11 and seven can expect to pay £1,398 for a self catering holiday to Marmaris, Turkey heading out of Gatwick on July 9 for two weeks.

Dream holidays become an expensive nightmare outside of term time (Getty Images/Photononstop RM)

By comparison, the same apartment at Club Anastasia in the same location from the same airport with the same holiday company Thomas Cook costs a whopping £2,526 when flying out on August 6 - a rise of 124%.

And a family of four planning a two week self catering trip to Zante, Greece faces the temptation of taking the break in term time as a fortnight at Alykes Garden Village, Alykes costs £2,224.20 from July 11-25 compared with a 39% hike to £3,093.60 from August 15-29 when flying out of Liverpool John Lennon Airport with Tui.

A spokesperson for industry body ABTA said: “If school holiday dates were staggered, this would help to alleviate sharp peaks and spread demand over a longer period of time.”

Travel firm Thomas Cook added: “We have suggested and are supportive of staggered school holiday dates by region to help reduce the pressures of peak holiday demand.”

Single parents’ group Gingerbread said solo mums and dads were hit with a double whammy of soaring prices and missing out on family deals aimed at two adults with kids.

Magaluf beach is a tourist hotspot - especially during school holidays when prices sky rocket (Getty)

Head of membership Anita Naik called for holidays to be tailored to meet the needs of different family groups and said: “We all know that the price of holidays shoots up when the school term ends, meaning many families simply can’t afford to go away.

“This is compounded for single parents, as not only is there a price hike but any deals offered by holiday companies typically apply to a family with two adults.

“One in four families in the UK is headed by a single parent and excluding them from holiday deals simply isn’t fair. Not only does this penalise single parents and their children but it’s also short sighted on the part of holiday companies.

“Holiday companies need to wake up, catch up and offer deals that are available to all types of families.”

Mr Double said the number of parents fined in his St Austell and Newquay constituency has soared from just four in 2016-17 to 685 in 2018-19 and he slated the fines.

He said: “We have a situation where parents who, for perfectly legitimate reasons, are unable to take a family holiday during the school holiday period are subject to an arbitrary tax imposed by the local authority for taking their children out of school.”

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(Prices for a fortnight for two adults and two children aged 11 and seven-years-old)