More than 150 Sunderland parents hit with fines totalling £8,580 after keeping their children out of school for holidays

More than 150 parents in Sunderland were slapped with fines totalling £8,580 in the last school year for failing to ensure their children attending school.

And, after the Government announced earlier this month the fines for parents taking children on unauthorised holidays would increase from £60 to £80 per child, families in Sunderland are being warned about the impact of their actions.

The heftier fines were announced Education Secretary, Gillian Keegan, earlier in March 2024.

In a bid to tackle the issue here in Sunderland, Sunderland City Council’s Cabinet Member for Children, Learning and Skills, Councillor Linda Williams, confirmed in the last academic year (2022/23) that 154 term time fixed penalty notice fines were issued at a total cost to parents of £8,580. Cllr Williams said: "An application for leave must be in exceptional circumstances and the headteacher must be satisfied that the circumstances warrant the granting of leave. These circumstances will be determined by a child's school. "Parents can be issued with a penalty notice or prosecuted for periods of unauthorised holidays. "If a child missed two weeks of school every year they would have missed more than half a year of their education by the time they are 16."

A key reason parents choose to take holidays during term time is the inflated costs charged by travel companies during school holiday periods which is generally far more than any prospective fine.

Research by the travel company Holiday Extras shows that breaks during term time are on average 28% cheaper than going away within the school summer holidays. This can equate to hundreds and in some cases thousands of pounds which some families simply can't afford.

It's a situation which Cllr Williams does feel needs to be addressed.

She said: "We all very much understand the financial challenges that many families are facing.

"We would always welcome discussions at a national or even local level around holiday costs and the issues around holiday providers raising the costs astronomically in some cases when school holidays begin."