Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of exempting parents from fines for school absences caused by their child's (a) neuro diverse needs and (b) pathological demand avoidance.

Tackling absence is at the heart of the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity. Thanks to the efforts of the sector, overall absence is moving in the right direction, with children attending over 3.1 million more days this year compared to last, and over 100,000 fewer children persistently absent.

Some children face complex barriers to attendance, such as pupils who have special educational needs and disabilities. Whatever the cause of absence, school staff should always first work with families and pupils to understand the barriers to attendance and provide support where possible. This might include providing pastoral support or making reasonable adjustments where a pupil has a disability. Our statutory guidance expects this ‘support first’ approach from all types of school. The guidance can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-improve-school-attendance.

The law does not exempt parents from receiving penalty notices for absence based solely on their child’s characteristics. It is up to the school and the local authority to decide whether to issue a penalty notice for unauthorised absence or not. They retain discretion about whether to issue a penalty notice because only they know the specific facts of the particular case.

The decision to issue a penalty notice must be made on an individual case by case basis and should only be used in cases where it is deemed likely to change parental behaviour and improve attendance, and in cases where support has already been provided and has not worked or not been engaged with or is not appropriate. For example, in cases of holidays taken in term-time.