Fines for unauthorised school absences issued to parents of pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in Central Bedfordshire “harm children and vulnerable families”, a meeting heard.
Figures released by Central Bedfordshire Council show 64 fines were issued to this group of parents totalling £2,420 in 2024, while 29 such cases were escalated to court for non-payment.
An alternative to prosecution can be where a school requests that the local authority issues the parent with a penalty notice, according to the CBC website.
The issuing of a penalty notice can be considered for all types of unauthorised absences, it said. This includes:
- Being late after the register has closed
- Truancy
- Taking leave of absence (holiday) without permission from the school
- If a headteacher isn’t satisfied for the reason for the child missing school
“When a school asks us to issue a penalty notice, the criterion applied are that the pupil has missed at least ten sessions (equal to five school days) because of unauthorised absence during the previous ten school weeks.
“This period of ten school weeks can also span different terms or academic years. A notice to improve may be issued as a final opportunity to avoid a penalty notice being served.
“This will give a 30-school-day period, in which should the child have no further unauthorised absences, no penalty notice will be issued.”
Cllr Matt Brennan (Labour, Dunstable North) raised the issue during open questions at a full CBC meeting, saying: “A Central Bedfordshire SEND action group freedom of information request (FOI) highlighted there were 64 fines issued to known SEND families in 2024.
“As a supporter of SEND communities, will we commit to reviewing this practice which only serves to harm children and vulnerable families?”
Describing it as “a really important issue”, Council leader, Cllr Adam Zerny (Independent, Potton) replied: “I think this would be good if we could have this come to children’s services overview and scrutiny committee and get the opportunity to debate it in a much more detailed fashion there.
“I concur. It’s an important issue we need to understand in far more detail. I know enough about it to realise it’s immensely complex how this works. I feel we need to make sure all the families involved have some clarity on exactly how it functions.
“The scrutiny meeting would be a really good opportunity to do that. I’m very supportive of the sentiments behind the actions you’ve taken.”
Department for Education data shows there were 3,238 penalty notices issued in Central Bedfordshire for unauthorised absences of all pupils in the 2023/24 academic year, compared to 2,461 in 2022/23, representing a 32 percent increase in just 12 months.
This was the highest number of notices issued since comparable records began for the area in 2010/11.
School leaders’ unions say a new approach must be considered by the government to address pupils being taken out of school, claiming current fines are a “blunt tool” for tackling the issue.
By Euan Duncan
Local Democracy Reporter
