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| Term-time holidays verdict: Government could change school attendance law after father wins High Court case | Term-time holidays verdict: Government could change school attendance law after father wins High Court case |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The Government is considering changing laws banning term-time holidays for school children after father won his case in the High Court. | The Government is considering changing laws banning term-time holidays for school children after father won his case in the High Court. |
| The Department for Education said it was “disappointed” with the ruling in favour of Jon Platt, who refused to pay a fine for taking his six-year-old daughter out of lessons for seven days for a family holiday to Florida last year. | |
| “The evidence is clear that every extra day of school missed can affect a pupil’s chance of gaining good GCSEs, which has a lasting effect on their life chances,” a spokesperson said. | “The evidence is clear that every extra day of school missed can affect a pupil’s chance of gaining good GCSEs, which has a lasting effect on their life chances,” a spokesperson said. |
| “We are confident our policy to reduce school absence is clear and correct. | “We are confident our policy to reduce school absence is clear and correct. |
| “We will examine today’s judgement in detail but are clear that children’s attendance at school is non-negotiable so we will now look to change the legislation. We also plan to strengthen statutory guidance to schools and local authorities.” | |
| Mr Platt was prosecuted under section 444 of the Education Act, which stipulates that parents are guilty of an offence if they fail to ensure their child “attends regularly” at school. | Mr Platt was prosecuted under section 444 of the Education Act, which stipulates that parents are guilty of an offence if they fail to ensure their child “attends regularly” at school. |
| The law does not specify a length of time, although the Department for Education sets its bar for persistent truancy at 90 per cent. | |
| New rules introduced in 2013 said absences should only be authorised by schools in “exceptional circumstances”, allowing fines to be imposed for anything judged to fall short of the benchmark. | |
| Previous guidance allowed headteachers to grant up to a fortnight holiday in term-time each academic year for pupils with good attendance records. | |
| After returning from his family holiday in April last year, which included a visit to Walt Disney World, Mr Platt was issued a £60 fine that quickly doubled when he refused to pay. | |
| The battle escalated to reach the Isle of Wight Magistrates’ Court in October, where Mr Platt won his case, but the local authority appealed the decision to the High Court. | |
| Lord Justice Lloyd Jones and Mrs Justice Thirlwall dismissed the council's challenge on Friday, ruling that the magistrates had not “erred in law” when reaching their initial decision. | |
| The two judges said magistrates were right to take into account the “wider picture” of Mr Platt's daughter's regular attendance record when they decided he had “no case to answer”. | |
| Speaking outside court after his victory, he said: “I am obviously hugely relieved. I know that there was an awful lot riding on this - not just for me but for hundreds of other parents.” | |
| The High Court ruling, which sets a legal precedent in England and Wales, was eagerly awaited by families enduring huge price hikes in the school holidays. | |
| Many were celebrating the triumph of “common sense” on Twitter, with some hailing Mr Platt a “hero”. | |
| He said his children have never had less than 93 per cent attendance in an academic year and refused to accept he had committed a criminal offence by paying the original fine. | |
| Julie Robertson, a lawyer who has represented parents challenging school holiday fines, said his victory should give magistrates’ courts the final say on the issue, and encourage councils to adopt a “proportionate and common sense approach” before handing out fines and launching prosecutions. | |
| She said that over several years of similar cases she had “not once” met criminally incompetent parents, adding that many had taken their children on educational holidays. | |
| “What constitutes reasonable attendance…is not something you can put a blanket figure on without taking into account the academic record of each individual child,” she added. | |
| “Attendance alone does not guarantee that a child will do well academically, nor does missing a few classes prevent them from succeeding. | |
| “Prosecuting parents does not in any way help children to learn.” | |
| Additional reporting by PA |