Parents In Lancashire Among The Most Fined In The Country
Councils here have handed out nearly half a million pounds worth of fines in the past year
A lawyer's slammed Lancashire councils for making our area one of the most fined in the county - for term-time holidays.
It's as over ÂŁ400,000 of penalty notices were given to parents here in the 2015/16 school year, but no appeals were lodged.
Lancashire County Council, Wigan Council, Blackburn Council and St Helen's Council all give the official advice the mums and dads can't appeal a fine - which Jule Roberts, a solicitor, has told ROCK FM just isn't true:
"It's very misleading to say there's no right of appeal. There's a commonlaw right of appeal, which is to say 'I'll have my day in court and let a magistrate decided if I've committed this offence'.
"Particularly within the North West region there are some local education authorities that are using scaremongering tactics to try and encourage people to accept these fixed penalty notices. They're threatening parents with parenting classes, and that cannot be right to hold that over a parent."
Julie says it's a problem across the country - and that clearer guidelines need to be brought in:
"Figures have shown there's a post-code lottery - there doesn't seem to be any consistency across the country, which is surprising. It's also concerning because there should be some logic and parents in the North West should be treated the same as parents in the South West, but we've seen that's simply not happening."
"It depends on the type of holiday and what activites you're doing, but there is an argument that a holiday can be educational. It's also important family time, and the cost of a holiday during peak season means it is cost prohibitive to most families."
Lancashire County Council gave out 5,654 fines, which is the second most in the country.
County Councillor Matthew Tomlinson, cabinet member for children, young people and schools, said: "Lancashire has more schools than any other local authority so we are always likely to appear high up in lists like this.
"Making sure that all young people receive a good education is one of my highest priorities and the evidence shows that attainment is linked to attendance. If children miss out on school they miss out on learning.
"The decision to authorise absence or not rests with the headteacher of the particular school and penalty notices are an enforcement option available to local authorities, if requested by schools. In line with stricter government guidelines, headteachers are now only able to authorise absence in exceptional circumstances. Although each request is taken on its merits, the starting point is always that term time is for education.
"We encourage schools to work closely with parents to reduce unauthorised absences. Our aim throughout is not to punish parents but to ensure that children and young people attend school and receive a good education.
"Government legislation is very clear on how money raised from the payment of fines can be used. Local authorities can only use it to pay for the administration of the penalty notice scheme, and the cost of any further action needed if a penalty notice isn't paid.
"A local authority is not allowed to profit from this scheme, and any extra money must go to the Secretary of State."
Rock FM's contacted Wigan, Blackburn and St Helen's councils for a response.