“It is criminalising parents” – Derbyshire council collects £960,000 in fines from parents whose children have missed school

Details obtained through a Freedom of Information show Derbyshire County Council has administered penalty notices totalling £961,320 in the past three complete academic years (2021 to 2024).

The information also shows the council has administered 20,487 fines during that time, with the amount issued each year and amount of money owed tripling in three years.

This has seen more than half-a-million paid out in penalties in the last full academic year, ending in summer 2024, with more than 10,500 fines issued.

The county council stresses that it is schools – specifically head teachers – who request for the council to issue fines and that it merely administers these requests.

Fine amounts are set by the Government and stand at £160 per parent, per child, with this fee reducing to £80 if paid within 21 days.

Here are the number of penalty notices issued in the last three academic years, followed by the corresponding amount owed:

• 2021-2022 – 3,175 penalties – £167,880
• 2022-2023 – 6,807 penalties – £239,280
• 2023-2024 – 10,505 penalties – £554,160

The council details that of the 20,487 fines, 16,064 were for first offenders and 1,567 for second offences, with parents only able to accrue two penalties in a three-year rolling period before being prosecuted in court.

A third offence within three years leads to direct court action, with the council detailing that the most penalties accrued by any parent during the last three years is three.

The council details that 1,016 parents in the past three complete academic years have been prosecuted with six cases being withdrawn and 91 parents facing a “normal fine” of either £160 or £80, depending on how quickly it is paid.

Court fines do qualify as a criminal conviction and are attached to a criminal record, which would need to be added to a DBS check.

Natalie Elliott, from Marehay, has been leading a national campaign Fight School Fines, due to be debated, in Parliament pushing for parents to be entitled to 10 days of term time leave without a fine.

Her Parliamentary petition has gained more than 161,000 signatures, including 4,911 from Derbyshire.

Mum of two to Alfie, seven, and Evie, nine, Ms Elliott said: “A lot of these fines that are being issued and prosecutions for unauthorised absences aren’t due to just going on holiday because they want to get it cheaper, which is the media narrative, they are marking things down that should fall under exceptional circumstances.

“For example, we are seeing loads of stories from parents where they have asked for authorised leave to visit family members who are poorly, or they have gone to a funeral overseas and they are not marking it as authorised, they are refusing it.

“I am not surprised to see it going up. They say it will act as a deterrent but clearly it is not doing because people still need to take leave during term time.

“It is criminalising parents. Many parents don’t know that what comes with that court fine is a criminal record.

“A lot of parents are being put into the same category as someone who has committed a serious offence, which is just totally unacceptable.

“Most of the time parents are doing it because it is the best decision for them and their children. They are our children, they are not the state’s.

In reponse a county council spokesperson said: “Headteachers ask us to issue the fines, so this is one for schools and not the council. We respond to headteacher requests, we do not make the policies that schools make that lead to fines being issued. The Government sets the penalty fines amounts

“The Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 introduced penalty notices for unauthorised leave of absence during term-time. This act stipulated that a penalty notice can be issued when leave is taken during term-time, for the purpose of a family holiday, without the prior written approval of the headteacher. This is the law and not the council’s decision.”