Head teachers should have more say over school holiday dates, say the Local Government Association (LGA).
The LGA is calling for head teachers to be allowed to give reasonable consideration to term-time leave requests and for a change in the rules from the Department for Education (DfE).
In the past head teachers were able to grant 10 days leave in ‘exceptional circumstances’, which meant that many schools could allow up to two weeks of term-time holidays a year.
This allowed parents to avoid the frequently more costly prospect of travelling during school holidays. It also meant that those parents who are employed in the armed forces, emergency services or who work unconventional hours i.e. those not necessarily able to take advantage of the normal school holiday period to travel, weren’t penalised.
But in September 2013 the DfE and Ofsted imposed stricter guidelines on what constitutes ‘exceptional circumstances’ and now this no longer includes holidays.
Under these guidelines unauthorised absences are reported to local authorities, which must then fine parents £60 per child (which rises to £120 if it is not paid within 21 days). Those that failed to pay could face prosecution with a maximum fine of £2500 or a jail sentence of up to three months.
This strict approach to absences has been successfully challenged on a number of occasions in court as some parents have argued that it is an infringement of their civil liberties under the Human Rights Act to decide what is in the best interests of their family.
Cllr Roy Perry, chairman of the Local Government Association's Children and Young People Board, said: ‘Blanket bans do not work and fines are now being successfully challenged in the courts under human rights laws. It is time for this situation to be reassessed to ensure we are not wasting time and money by enforcing, what is considered by many, to be a punitive and unfair system. Also, as the high court decisions have shown recently, it’s a system that is not always enforceable.’
‘Giving families’ time to be on holiday together,’ the councillor continued, ‘can have social and emotional benefits, which are of lasting value and support to children. It should not be something for which they are unduly punished.’
He added: ‘While councils fully support the Department for Education's stance on every child being in school every day, there are occasions when parental requests should be given individual consideration and a common sense approach applied.’
