In September 2013, the government brought in new legislation aimed at cutting down truancy and making parents responsible for their children attending school, and fining those whose children took ‘unauthorised absences’ during term time. The cost? Up to £60 per child, rising to £120 if you don't pay within 21 days...
A success? For whom?
While the government claims the new legislation is a success, with 64,000 fines handed out in 2013 alone, and some 200,000 fewer pupils regularly missing school, the legislation has had the side effect of denying millions of children the chance to take Active Travel holidays with their families.
These are the kinds of holidays where children spend quality time bonding with their siblings and parents, doing healthy activities in the outdoors, learning new skills and experiencing new cultures and landscapes – quite literally broadening their horizons.
But not any more: intimidated by fines and priced out by the prohibitive cost of travel in holiday time, families are simply not taking these holidays any more.
Recent research by the Ski Club, found that some 38% of parents who holidayed with their children said that the threat of fines had affected their ski holiday plans, with half again of those abandoning a family ski holiday altogether.
With a distinct European ski season, it’s no surprise that family ski holidays in particular are falling by the wayside, with parents caught between a rock and a hard place. Take your children out of school and face the fines or take your holidays in either Christmas, February half term or Easter holidays and pay double. At least.
Suffer the children
The victims of this misplaced inflexibility are not just travel companies but children and families who might otherwise have benefited from an enriching, healthy, and family bonding holiday.
One controversial solution was put forward by Lee Quince, of Bedford-based ski tour company MountainBase, who said they’d pay their customers’ fines. According to Quince the new law was “taking the piste”.
But parents are pushing back too, and the call for power to be given back to headteachers to make the final call growing.
It used to be the case that head teachers could use their judgement to differentiate between truancy and constructive term-time leave with pupils allowed up to 10 days authorised term time leave ‘in special circumstances’. Now parent lobby groups like Parents Want A Say are pushing for the government to revert to this arrangement.
The campaigners already have over 213,000 supporters’ signatures behind them.
What’s more, in October 2015 a high-profile case was won against a local education authority by a father who had refused to pay a fine. Although the ruling did not officially set a legal precedent, as it was made in a magistrate’s court, it seems like the tide is turning…
If you want to tell the government that active family travel is about healthy holidays and family bonding not about truancy, sign up at Parentswantasay.co.uk
