Council leaders are reported to have defied the government by challenging strict rules against parents taking children on term-time holidays.
Town hall politicians called for a more “common sense” approach, saying that head teachers should have greater flexibility to approve parents’ requests to take children out of school.
Public sector workers, such as nurses, police officers and soldiers, should be able to take advantage of cheaper family holidays during school-term times, they said.
Their call, timed to coincide with the start of the autumn half-term holiday for many schools, has caused irritation in the Department for Education.
The Conservative-led Local Government Association is challenging tougher rules that took effect last autumn, under which head teachers are allowed to approve requests for absence only in “exceptional circumstances,” the Times reported.
David Simmons, a Conservative councillor in Hillingdon, west London, and chairman of the LGA’s children’s board, said: “An outright ban is too simplistic and does not recognise that family life and circumstances are not always so black and white.
“We should not have a system where family holidays are just for the rich, or indeed children are not able to take time off in light of family bereavement.”
The number of fines and prosecutions has risen sharply, although figures last week showed a fall in authorised absence from school, from 0.3 to 0.1% of sessions, helping to push school attendance figures to a record high. Rates of absence without approval rose very slightly.
Head teachers said that change was unnecessary, as it might “open the floodgates” to term-time holidays.
“There is already the flexibility to allow children to miss school for ‘exceptional circumstances’ such as a family wedding or once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but these should be extraordinary and rare,” said Brian Lightman, head of the Association of School and College Leaders.
“We sympathise with parents’ plight, but the way to address this problem is to tackle the holiday companies that charge extortionate fees, not to allow more children to miss out on school.”
A Department for Education spokeswoman said: “We have been clear that all head teachers are free to grant pupils leave in exceptional circumstances. It is up to them to decide whether to grant time off, and how much to grant. This appears to be exactly what the LGA is calling for.”
Fines for parents who defy heads and take children out of school without approval were raised from £50 to £60. If parents refuse to pay, local authorities can prosecute, with a maximum fine of £2,500 or three months in jail.