North East councils collect more than £500,000 in fines for unauthorised school absences

More than 14,000 penalty notices, fines and prosecutions have been handed out by seven North East councils for unauthorised pupil absences.

Legal Expert has analysed figures across the North East Combined Authority revealing which councils are doling out the most penalty notices, fines and prosecutions. Figures show 14,373 fines have been handed out since 2021, totalling £512,028.

Parents who flout the rules of term-time holidays could be hit with hefty fines of £160 if they take their child out of school for a term-time holiday from September.

As it stands, unauthorised absences can see parents slapped with a £60 fine which increases to £120 per child if it is not paid within 21 days with a potential for prosecution for non-payment of 28 days.

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South Tyneside Council has issued the highest number fines - with a total of 5,012 between 2021/24. The fines totalled £215,260.

Durham County Council issued the second highest amount of fines in the North East - with a total of 4,241 in the same time period. But it saw the biggest increase in the value of fines handed out in the last three years.

Between 2021/22, the council issued £10,860 worth of fines. This year so far, it has issued penalty notices to parents totalling £91,118.

Newcastle City Council has issued 10 times the number of fines this year than it did in 2021/22, rising from 26 to 254 in the 2023/24 academic year. But council bosses said the significant rise in the number of fines has come from a very low baseline.

Parents who don’t pay the fine in time can be subjected to further action which could include an Education Supervision Order, Community Order or even jail. Parents are being warned this year as fines are set to increase. New guidelines will see fines of up to £160 if the child is taken out of school for a term-time holiday.

The hike will come along with a new national framework which will require schools to consider fines when a child misses ten or more sessions (five days) without permission.

Coun Liz McHugh, Lead Member for Children and Families Social Care & Education and Skills at South Tyneside Council, said: "Attendance fines are always a last resort and before these are issued both our schools and our attendance team work with families to promote good attendance and to tackle any barriers to children attending school. We have clear policies on attendance and these are communicated to parents on a regular basis.

"The majority of fines are issued when a school reports unauthorised absence - where children are taken out of school in term time to go on holidays. Whilst we appreciate that family holidays are much more affordable during term time we simply cannot encourage this as lost school days have a serious detrimental impact on our young people.“

Jim Murray, Durham County Council’s head of education and skills, said: “County Durham is one of the largest local authority areas in the country and is responsible for hundreds of schools.

“We place a high priority on good school attendance and follow the Department for Education’s (DfE) ‘Support First’ approach to absence. This states that legal intervention should only be used where attempts to support a child back into school have been unsuccessful, or where an absence is not appropriate during term time, for example, an unauthorised family holiday. Most of the fines we issue are related to unauthorised holidays, reflecting a national trend acknowledged by the DfE.”

A Newcastle City Council spokesperson said: “The significant rise in the number of fines has come from a very low baseline. We increased the number of school attendance officers in 2022 following publication of changes to statutory guidance from the Department for Education.

"This is helping schools to address the poor attendance of a minority of pupils. For some parents this results in legal action. At the same time, we have increased our training and support for schools to help parents who are genuinely struggling with their children’s attendance.

"Most children have days when they don’t want to go to school. However, it is very easy to get into the habit of not attending. We would always advise parents to speak with their children’s school as soon as possible if there are concerns about attendance.”

Lisa Ramshaw, head of service for education and inclusion at North Tyneside Council, said: “We know that every day of school is important, and we work closely with schools and parents to provide support for anyone who needs it to improve their child’s attendance.

“Like many authorities nationally, we’ve seen an increase in the number of fines issued for term-time holidays across all schools in the borough however no parents have been prosecuted for their child’s overall poor attendance.”

Sunderland City Council’s cabinet member for children’s services, child poverty and skills councillor Michael Butler said school attendance is a national challenge and any unauthorised absence is a concern.

He their first priority is always to work with and support parents in improving a child’s attendance, without moving to legal sanctions as we see these as a last resort.

He added: "Penalty notices are to be issued as an alternative to prosecution where parents have failed to ensure their child attends school regularly. A notice may be issued if there are five days/10 sessions of absence in a period of 10 school weeks (where absence has not been authorised).

"These can be used in cases where absence has not been authorised by a head teacher and a notice may be issued where the five-day level of absence has not been reached, for example, if there are several periods of absence.

"We believe that absence from school, for whatever reason, is detrimental to a child’s development and missing school damages a pupil’s attainment levels and disrupts school routines. We remain focused on the challenge of increasing attainment for pupils.

Durham County Council

No. of Fines Issued | Fine total

2021/22: 1,023 | £10,860

2022/23: 1,517 | £70,170

2023/24: 1,701 | £91,118

Total: 4,241 | £172,148

No. not paid in 21 days: 848 (20%)

Further action: 696 sent for prosecution

Newcastle City Council

No. of Fines Issued |Fine total

2021/22: 26 | £1,560

2022/23: 127 | £7,620

2023/24: 254 | £15,240

Total: 407 | £24,420

No. not paid in 21 days: 344 (85%)

Further action: 144 sent for prosecution

Northumberland County Council

No. of Fines Issued | Fine total

2021/22: 200 | £8,280

2022/23: 933 | £42,120

2023/24: 1,222 | £49,800

Total: 2355 | £100,200

No. not paid in 21 days: 140 (6%)

Further action: 189 sent for prosecution

South Tyneside Council

No. of Fines Issued | Fine total

2021/22: 1,286 | £55,560

2022/23: 1,904 | £88,620

2023/24: 1,822 | £71,080

Total: 5012 | £215,260

No. not paid in 21 days: 173

Further action: 914 Proceeded to court

Gateshead Borough Council

No. of Fines Issued | Amount

2021/22: 186 | £960

2022/23: 325 | £10,680

2023/24: 323| £19,800

Total: 834 | £31,440

Increase of 74% between 2021/22 and 2022/23

Further action: 103 Prosecution following no payment

North Tyneside Borough Council

Penalty Notices Issued

2021/22: 575

2022/23: 731

Prosecutions following non-payment of a penalty notice

2021/22: 21

2022/23: 17

Sunderland City Council

Penalty Notices Issued
2021/22: 272
2022/23: 273

Prosecutions following non-payment of a penalty notice.
2021/22: 87
2022/23: 50