Minister Stephen Morgan has strongly defended the system of penalty notices for unauthorised pupil absence in a House of Commons debate.
Mr Morgan was responding to a petition, which received over 250,000 signatures, to “allow students to be taken out of school for two weeks a year without penalty”.
One of his arguments was that the national framework for penalty notices helps to ensure pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are supported.
He told the House that some pupils who have long-term physical or mental health conditions face more complex barriers to attendance, but have the same right to an education as any other pupil.
Fines should be ‘last resort’
Mr Morgan, who is minister for early education, added: “It is also worth noting that the national framework for penalty notices strengthens protections for SEND parents in, for example, absence cases other than holiday, including an expectation that attendance support will have been provided before a penalty notice is used.”
Updated Department for Education guidance on attendance includes more detail about additional support where a pupil is not attending due to unmet or additional needs, he continued.
Mr Morgan also said the penalty notice scheme came into force following a national consultation and that fines “should always be used as a last resort”.
Schools have the discretion to authorise a leave of absence in exceptional circumstances, he added.
During the debate, MPs questioned whether school performance suffers as a result of taking term-time holidays.
Mr Morgan said that an analysis undertaken by the office of the children’s commissioner in 2023 showed that any amount of holiday during term time is associated with lower GCSE results.
Based on the most recent census data, he said that “a child who is taken out of school for a two-week holiday every year and has an average number of days off for sickness and medical appointments will have missed the equivalent of a full year of school by the time they finish Year 11 at age 16”.
Holidays ‘unaffordable’ during peak times
The petition was moved by Lichfield Labour MP Dave Robertson, who told the House: “The price of holidays flies through the roof during school break periods, and that has a real impact on parents.
“They want to spend time with their kids away from home to build memories but, for far too many people, doing so in the 13 weeks of the school holidays has become unaffordable because of the escalating cost.”
Mr Morgan responded that the government could not dictate pricing strategies to the holiday sector, adding: “I stress that we are interested in anything more that holiday companies and other businesses in the sector can do to make holidays in peak times more affordable for families.”
However, schools and councils could also look at flexible term times, he suggested.
He mentioned examples of schools holding Inset days and other occasional such days at less busy times of the year, which can help families plan breaks at times that suit them.
“Councils and school trusts, including in my constituency [Southsea], have trialled a two-week half term or slightly later summer holidays,” Mr Morgan said.
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