Question to the Department for Education:

What recent assessment he has made of the effect of fines for unauthorised school absence on school attendance levels.

Parents have a duty to ensure their child of compulsory school age, who is registered at school, attends regularly.

We have not formally assessed the impact of penalty notices but comparable data shows overall absence rates have remained fairly stable across recent years, following a downward trend since 2006/07 (4.7% in 2016/17, compared to 6.5% in 2006/07).