To ask if anyone has successfully appealed against a fine for taking kids out of school during term time....

[NotAClueReally3]

.... And if so if you have any pointers?
My friend has asked me to help her draft a letter. She took her two kids out of school for a week for a close family members' wedding overseas (long haul). Council want her to pay £60 per child per parent, so £240 in total.
I seem to remember a case in the news where a guy took his council to court and won, so I'm wondering if this constitutes some kind of precedent? FWIW her ds had 100% attendance last year and letter (and fine) goes to council not school.

It does look like your friend doesn't have a leg to stand on and will have to stump up for the fine.

Our lea policy clearly states

21.	Should there be more than one person liable for the offence a separate notice should be issued to each person, per each child. 

22.	Should the offence involve more than one child a separate notice should be issued for each child, per each parent. 


Our family could be hit with £60 X 2 parents X 4 children (£480) However, it is not clear whether the fine can be applied to each day of absence. It does however mention absence thresholds.

UNAUTHORISED ABSENCE: As the Government changed the PA (Persistent Absence) threshold to 90% (in effect from Sept. 2015), the Local Authority may issue a Penalty Notice in relation to a child whose attendance at school has been between 86% - 89% over a given period. Such a Fine is intended to offer a rapid intervention, which may be used to address non-school attendance before it becomes entrenched, following guidance in section 13.
UNAUTHORISED TERM TIME LEAVE(includes Holiday): Any parent who takes a child out of school for term time leave of more than 6 consecutive sessions over a 4 week period, not authorised by the school (under exceptional circumstances rule), may receive a Penalty Notice. Such cases will have to be supported by evidence of previous unauthorised term time leave (more than 6 consecutive sessions over a 4 week period) taken in the last 3 years and evidence of parents being warned about a potential Penalty Notice.
So ours reads that a penalty notice could be issued once a child has had 3 full days (6 sessions) unauthorised absence in a 3 year period.

It is also quite clear that any appeal has to be made to the school's governing body before the penalty notice is issued. So applying our county's rules in your friend's case, when she asked and was told no, she should have appealed then. Not just gone ahead and done it anyway.

As every parents has likely been told they could be fined (our school sent home a letter on the subject), it would be considered they had been warned of the possibility of a notice, even if there was a year between letter and absence. Which makes it even harder to appeal as the knowledge of the possibility was there.

We had ours cancelled - we'd applied as a 5 day holiday before half term and had it refused. It was actually a trip to consider relocation but there was no way we were going to tell the school that before we had told our kids and parents. By the time the fine came through relocation was well under way and DHs company gave us a letter confirming they had invited us as a family on our earlier trip. The school had no issues with cancelling our fine and changed the earlier absence to authorised. I'm so glad I don't have to deal with the petty bureaucracy of the British state system now!

Thanks for that Bernards I had heard that before but wasn't sure if it was right or not so will keep that in mind

I take my children out for a week every year, I write to school saying I am taking unauthorised absence. Never been fined, our HT does not mind people taking their childr on holiday, although obviously she can't authorise it. Primary age.

mouldy this is the real issue about fines. some areas/counties fine for every absence, others use their discretion. not everyone is treated equally despite this being national legislation. it is another of those post code lotteries.

Yes agree, it does seem to be up to the HT whether they refer it to the local authority for a fine. I had a letter back saying as long as unauthorised absence didn't exceed 6 days in 6 months, no fine would be charged. That seems a lot to me! There is not consistency but as its HT discretion and there are thousands of HTs, consistency would be a challenge. Some HT think holidays in terms time are the devils work, others take a more holistic view.

I got a naughty girls letter from LEA because I'd taken DS's to Sri Lanka for 3 weeks to see Gdad before he died. Couldn't get flights back because it was the buddist new year and fully booked unless we flew as a 2 and a 2.

Two years on I am still riled.

The man who won his case did so because it was all about attendance and his dc had excellent attendance all year apart from holiday.

its disgraceful isnt it...awful I really feel for your friend and I would have also defied the head to take my dc out.

awful awful behaviour and even worse parents are put in this position.

merly

its disgusting it really is! To have precious last memories tainted by this utter crap!

Any parent who takes a child out of school for term time leave of more than 6 consecutive sessions over a 4 week period, not authorised by the school (under exceptional circumstances rule), may receive a Penalty Notice
I read 6 sessions and thought there was a small chink of light there but you said it means 3 days but still a chink there....does this mean one could skim off three days here and there in safety

The Isle of Wight case isn't over yet. The council are appealing the decision.

The wording on our forms have changed since the isle of Wight case to say "full time education" rather than "regular education"

It is legal within the regs to levy a £60 per parent per day. It's not only on mumsnet, it's clear in the regs.

Each local authority has to have a code of conduct setting out when an FPN may be used. This is partly why practice varies from LA to LA.

There's no statutory appeal once an FPN has been issued - it can only be withdrawn if it should not have been issued in the first place. What you can do is make representations, if a warning letter is sent prior to FPN.

Your friend needs to be aware that the fine can increase if not paid within the required time and that total non-payment can result in prosecution.

As other