Plans to boost school attendance do not address the wider factors that contribute to persistent absence, a think-tank and council bosses have warned.
Under plans announced today by the Department for Education (DfE), fines for absence will be standardised to ‘ensure all councils are issuing fines appropriately’.
All local authorities in England will have to consider fining parents if a child misses five days of school for unauthorised absence, and the rates of fines will increase by a third.
Under the plans, state schools in England will also share daily attendance registers with councils, and DfE guidance on school attendance, published in 2022, will become statutory in August.
The guidance advocates a ‘support-first’ approach and says schools and councils should meet regularly to agree plans for the most at-risk absent children.
The chair of the Local Government Association’s children and young people board, Louise Gittins, raised concerns that councils will be unable to adhere to the guidance without additional funding.
The LGA also called for a register of children not in school, powers for councils to check children are receiving a suitable education, and a cross-government strategy to tackle rising disadvantage and the wider factors contributing to persistent absence.
The education lead at the Centre for Social Justice think-tank, Beth Prescott, warned that the Government must ‘keep a careful watch on the blanket use of fines to punish absenteeism’, adding that research suggests fines can act as ‘perverse incentives’ for vulnerable families to pull children out of school and into home education.
Echoing the LGA's concerns, Ms Prescott also warned that fines ‘will not work’ unless the underlying causes of absence, including unmet mental health and special educational needs, are addressed.
