Bolton Parents Face £800k in Fines for Taking Kids on Term-Time Holidays
Bolton Council reports a troubling rise in school absences due to term-time holidays, leading to significant fines for parents.
Bolton, UK, School Absences, Term-Time Holidays, Fines
Bolton: Parents in Bolton have been racking up some serious fines—£800,000 over three years! It seems more families are pulling their kids out of school for cheaper holidays during term time.
Last August marked the first uptick in fines for unauthorized absences since 2012. If parents take their kids out of school without a good reason, they can face fines up to £160.
Before that, the fine was £60, but if you didn’t pay up in 21 days, it jumped to £120. If you still didn’t pay, you could even be prosecuted. In the 2021/22 school year, the council made £125,410 from these fines.
Fast forward to 2022/23, and that number shot up to £326,115. And in the latest school year, it climbed again to £345,270. That’s a lot of cash!
Council member Susan Priest expressed concern at a recent meeting, saying, “There’s been a worrying increase in fines for parents taking kids out of school for holidays.” She gets that holiday prices can be tempting, but the impact on kids’ education is a big deal.
Another council member, Coun Martin Donaghy, added that any time off school can disrupt a child’s learning. He emphasized that it’s crucial to send a clear message that kids need to be in school.
He also mentioned that the money from these fines helps cover the penalty notice system and any legal actions. Thankfully, most kids in Bolton have great attendance, and the area’s figures are above the national average.
On a national level, nearly 400,000 penalty notices were handed out in England for unauthorized absences in the 2022-23 school year, which is way higher than before the pandemic. A whopping 89.3% of those fines were for unauthorized holidays, according to the Department for Education.