Term-time Leave

Nigel Huddleston Excerpts

Monday 26th October 2015 Westminster Hall

[Steve Double]

I am grateful to the Minister for clarifying that point.

Other parents have told me of children missing out on scores of significant family celebrations. In fact, there seems to be a bit of confusion on what constitutes an exceptional case where headteachers are allowed to grant an authorised absence. Headteachers are being put in the impossible position of having to make choices about children attending family events—quite frankly, those are decisions that parents should be free to make. Headteachers have told me that even when they do exercise their judgement and authorise an absence, they then risk the spectre of Ofsted criticising that decision. Pitting family life against the classroom, as the policy sadly does, is one of its most regrettable aspects.

[Nigel Huddleston (Mid Worcestershire) (Con)]

My hon. Friend makes some valid points that I have also heard in my constituency about the confusion over what constitutes exceptional circumstances, and he gave some good examples. Is he aware that 90% of those surveyed by the National Association of Head Teachers said that they would appreciate clearer guidance from the Government as to what constitutes exceptional circumstances? Perhaps that guidance might help.

[Steve Double]

I was aware of that survey. It raises the point that if the policy is to be continued—clearly, I hope it will be reviewed—there needs to be much greater clarity for headteachers on what constitutes exceptional circumstances. That especially needs to be applied to Ofsted, because I am hearing from headteachers that when they make a judgment call that they believe they are allowed to make and authorise the absence, those decisions are then queried at best, and perhaps criticised in other cases, by Ofsted. Parents want a constructive relationship with the school, where together they can decide what is right and best for the child.

My final point is on the policy’s economic impact. I was disturbed to learn that no economic impact assessment was made before the policy was introduced. In fact, when the matter was brought before Parliament in March 2013 by way of a statutory instrument, the explanatory note stated:

“An impact assessment has not been provided for this instrument as no impact on businesses or civil society organisations is foreseen.”

Unfortunately, that simply is not the case. The impact of the policy on the tourist industry, particularly in Cornwall, has been significant, as it has elsewhere in the country. Many tourist-related businesses are reporting a significant drop in revenue in the shoulder months of May, June and September, which used to be times when many families would come to towns such as Newquay to stay.

--- Later in debate ---

[Nigel Huddleston (Mid Worcestershire) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to give my first Westminster Hall speech under your chairmanship, Mr McCabe. I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for St Austell and Newquay (Steve Double) for taking the lead in the debate. The fact that the e-petition has been signed by more than 120,000 people shows the strength of feeling on this subject and the success of the e-petition experiment.

Although I fully support the intent and gist of the e-petition, I have a little concern about its wording, like other hon. Members. To allow all pupils two weeks off would cause chaos and disruption in our schools. I am concerned, as was mentioned earlier, that that could be interpreted as giving a carte blanche entitlement of two weeks off to all parents across the country no matter what the circumstances. I suspect—this is the feeling I have got from the debate—that we are really asking for flexibility, and for headteachers to be given the discretion to decide.

Hon. Members have also mentioned the lack of clarity about exceptional circumstances versus special circumstances, and I think we all agree that further guidance would be appreciated. I am sure we are all interested to hear what the Minister will say about that later on.

The reason why the tighter rules were implemented in the first place was to tackle the burgeoning problem of truancy, partly caused by the persistent and deliberate flouting of the previous rules by a small minority of parents. Truancy was allowed to get completely out of control—so much so that, between autumn 2009 and spring 2010, pupils missed 46 million days of school. That was clearly not acceptable, which is why I support tight regulation, but there is a need for greater flexibility and local discretion when parents truly have no other options.

Like my hon. Friend the Member for Chippenham (Michelle Donelan), I have heard cases of people who work in the armed forces, and it will be no surprise to colleagues who represent constituencies in the south-west that I am concerned about the tourism sector in particular. The situation does not just affect coastal towns and the south-west. I represent Mid Worcestershire, with no coast whatever, where this is an issue as well.

Support for the tourism industry is pivotal, because it is a hugely undervalued sector. Since 2010, one in three new jobs has been in the hospitality, leisure and tourism sector. Tourism contributes £127 billion to our economy and employs more than 3 million people, and that number is growing. This issue will therefore inevitably get bigger, because as more people work in the sector, more people will be affected. It is no exaggeration to say that those who work in the sector are among the hardest-working people in the country, and that is never more the case than during the school holidays, and particularly the summer break.

According to a 2014 study by the Centre for Economics and Business Research, proportionately more people are self-employed in the travel and tourism sector than in the economy as a whole. Many of those people are small business owners running bed and breakfasts, restaurants and shops, and of course many of them will have families.

It goes without saying, therefore, that we would not expect those who work in the holiday industry to go on holiday during their busiest time of the year—we would not expect accountants to go away in the run-up to the tax return deadline in April, a florist to take time off before Valentine’s day or anyone in the retail sector to take a break in December. In most cases, those who run businesses in the tourism sector simply cannot have holidays in late July and August, at Easter, during most half-terms or at Christmas.

It just so happens that the tourism sector’s busiest time is almost every other sector’s downtime. Many who work in the tourism sector are therefore not able to take a family holiday during official school holiday times. They are effectively penalised simply because of their choice to work in that sector. I therefore sincerely hope that flexibility and common sense will prevail. I look forward to the Minister’s response.