140 fines handed out in Cumberland for unauthorised school absence since 2022
Our new figures have looked at the last couple of school years
Last updated 18th Sep 2024
Following an FOI submitted by GHR Cumbria it's been revealed that nearly once a week (during the academic year) a parent has received a fine for an unauthorised absence of their child from school.
A further breakdown of those figures shows how many were handed out per year to date:
2022- 61 fines
2023- 44 fines
2024- 38 fines
As a result of those fines £1,400 was paid to the then Cumbria County Council (1/9/2022 - 31/3/23) and £1400 was paid to the Cumberland Council (1/4/23 - 31/8/23).
According to Cumberland Council's website 'Only the headteacher can decide if the reason given for absence is acceptable. If the head teacher decides that the reason given for absence is unacceptable, the absence will remain unauthorised.'
However the policy of fining parents for an unauthorised absence may not be the solution to solving the problem, according to Cumbrian NEU (teaching union) representative Andy Brewerton.
He said: "Being able to go on a holiday abroad, for a lot of people, is an aspiration that they won't ever achieve and if they get a chance to do it, it's no wonder a lot of them take that chance.
"It can be a fantastic learning experience for children going abroad, going to different cultures, immersing themselves. Even if it is just being in another country listening to people talk a different language, seeing how they interact, being in a different climate, how the countryside looks different. There's all sorts of things.
"If they go somewhere like Greece, Italy, Egypt, just look at all the cultural things there. There's miles and miles of learning possibilities.
"There's all sorts of things about helping cultural diversity in bringing people's understanding of cultures together by doing things like this. It can be a very good experience.
"Obviously if somebody is continuously absent and can't give good reason as to why, then yes, obviously you need to go down a certain route. But that's a system where more help is needed to be able to address the situation.
"Just banging a fine onto somebody for having an absence doesn't actually stop the cause. I think schools don't like giving out the fines or putting people through this situation.
"It needs to be looked at, where people can sit and discuss and reason why they would like to do this and why they would like to be able to take their child out for a week.
"I think it's a far more nuanced thing that needs discussion between both parties as to what is going on. I think the fine needs to be the last straw."