Fines for term time holidays on the way for Mid Wales parents
They have enjoyed different rules to parents across the border in Shropshire – but today anyone taking their child out of school for a holiday in Mid Wales faces being hit in the pocket.
Powys County Council's cabinet has agreed to impose fines, placing it in line with other areas.
It means parents can now be issued with £60 fixed penalty notices – although, there will still be some room for manoeuvre.
The notices in Mid Wales can be issued when pupils have five unauthorised school days off, although they are only applicable when a pupil's attendance falls below the 90 per cent threshold for the year, which is 19 days unauthorised absence.
They can also be issued for persistent late arrivals at class. If the fines are not paid within 28 days they would then rise to £120.
Nearly 900 fines were dished out to parents in Shropshire last year for taking their children on holiday in the last school year, new figures have revealed.
The 599 notices issued by Telford & Wrekin Council and 275 fines by Shropshire Council from September 2013 to July 2014 brought in nearly £50,000 for the two authorities.
It is a massive increase on the year before as more stringent rules were introduced by Government for schools in England.
Powys County Council's deputy leader Wynne Jones insisted its new policy would not mean parents that could no longer take their children out of school for holidays.
He said: "It should be made clear that this is not the end of any family being able to take their children out of school for a holiday because there are more than two weeks leeway in this."
However council officer, Ian Roberts, reminded councillors that no parents are allowed to take pupils out of school for holidays without permission.
He said that parents could make requests to headteachers which would be assessed on a case by case basis.
Councillor Jones told his fellow members that research had shown the pupils with fewer absences had a tendency to perform better .He said: "When the scrutiny committee looked at this it found that there is a real link between attendance and educational performance."
Councillor David Jones, deputy leader of the Powys Independent Alliance said he would want to see the measures reviewed by the council's scrutiny committee to determine whether they have been effective.
Arwel Jones, cabinet member for education insisted the policy would not be used as a blanket tool to fine parents.He said: "It is not a tool to be used with every pupil who fits the criteria without taking into account pupil context."
