Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will revise the rules according to which local authorities can fine both parents separately for taking a child out of school during term time, in order to introduce an exception for those cases where the parents are divorced or separated and the decision to take the child out of school has been taken by one parent alone.

All parents of compulsory school aged children who are registered at school have a legal duty to ensure their children attend school regularly.

Local Authorities are independent prosecutors, each covered by their own Code of Conduct for issuing penalty notices, in line with the Education (Penalty Notices) (England) Regulations 2007. Where attendance legal intervention is used, decisions are made on an individual case-by-case basis by the relevant Local Authority.

All parents, including where parents do not live together, can commit an offence under Section 444 of the Education Act 1996 and may be issued a penalty notice if it is in accordance with their Local Authority’s Code of Conduct for issuing penalty notices. Local Authorities must not act in a way that is irrational in the particular case, taking into consideration the individual family circumstances. Parents can write to their Local Authority if they believe that they have been incorrectly issued with a penalty notice.