Children’s poor school attendance costs their parents £1,800

Three York parents have been handed court fines after City of York Council took action following their children’s poor attendance at school.

The prosecution was heard by York Magistrates and followed numerous attempts by the authority and schools to engage the parents to give the children the education to which they are entitled.

In all cases, the parents had failed to provide the schools with acceptable reasons for much of their children’s absence and the schools had therefore marked the absence as unauthorised.

Failed to engage

The prosecuted parents had, prior to court, failed to engage with the schools and local authority to support their children’s attendance.

They had also been issued with a fine as an alternative to prosecution. They had not paid it, prompting the council to prosecute.

All three parents were ordered to pay fines ranging between £131 to £660.

Maxine Squire, the council’s assistant director of education and skills, said:

• We want all children to receive a great education and benefit from the rich opportunities and high quality of education that are provided by our schools, and working with families and schools to promote and maintain good attendance is vital in achieving this.

  We will always attempt to engage with parents to avoid further loss of a child’s education before we prosecute. This is used as last resort in order to ensure that children receive the education to which they are entitled.