An increase in fines for taking children out of school without permission won’t stop many parents booking cheaper term-time holidays, it has been reported.
Fines issued to each parent have gone up from £60 to £80 per child, which will be doubled if it happens again within three years.
Those with a third fine in a three-year period now face prosecution, reported the BBC.
Nearly 400,000 penalty notices were issued to parents in England for unauthorised school absences during the 2022-23 academic year – much higher than pre-pandemic levels and unauthorised absences have remained at a similar rate over the most recent academic year, added the report.
But some parents have told the broadcaster this is not a deterrent.
One family was fined after taking their two children on a ski holiday in March and have now booked a two-week holiday later this month, they told the BBC.
They run pub and bed-and-breakfast so if they holidayed during their busy summer season, they would incur a cost to their business as well as higher holiday prices.
Another parent told the BBC she doesn’t want to take her children out of school during term time but added: “If it means it’s going to save you thousands of pounds then that’s the best alternative.”
Flight Centre gave the BBC examples of price rises between term-time and the summer holidays for long-haul flights:
Thailand: Term-time £554, summer holidays £1,112
New York: Term-time £586, summer holidays £942
Orlando: Term-time £556, summer holidays £754
Colman Coyne, managing director of travel agency Jetset in Huddersfield, told the BBC more families have been looking for holidays during term time.
“Going back three, four years ago it was very rare that we would find a family with school age children travelling outside the Easter, half terms and summer holidays,” he said.
“We see now it’s quite a regular thing. And you can see they’re weighing up whether it’s worth risking a fine.”
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