A Wirral councillor said fines for parents should be “so prohibitive” they don’t take their children on holiday during term time.
In recent years parents have been fined more and more for taking their children out of school during term time to go on holiday. The latest figures for Wirral in 2022/23 were the highest ever with 2,085 fines given out for holidays. Council director Simone White however said any fines for parents struggling financially didn’t tend to be for holidays as they were unable to afford the holiday in the first place let alone the fine. The council also said it would consider reasonable offers made by parents struggling financially.
However he was concerned that for some families if they are unable to pay the upfront, they could face paying much more down the line. Cllr Bennett said: “I’m just thinking if some of these children, these families are in child poverty and there could be a social reason or other reasons why they’re not going to school, and they are having to pay more than someone who can afford to pay the fine because they can’t afford to pay the fine.