Some North East councils handed out about one unauthorised term-time holiday fine per ten children enrolled in local schools last year - while others fined next to no families at all.
New government figures released last month showed that the total number of fines issued for unauthorised absences shot up by 22% during the last school year (2023/24), with 91% of them being for family holidays when children were supposed to be at school. The reason behind unauthorised absence fines only started being recorded in 2016/17, and this year’s number of fines issued for term-time holidays was three times higher than that year’s - meaning that it has hit a record level.
Last year, the Government increased the amount parents could fined for unauthorised absences from £60 to £80 in a bid to curb this behaviour, for young people’s own good. However, the change took effect in mid-August, meaning that parents fined during the last school year would have been charged the previous rate. Under the new rules local authorities also have to consider fining parents who take their children out of school for a term-time holiday, but it’s worth noting that different councils previously had different policies.
We’ve taken a look at each of the local authorities responsible for schools across the North East, from Northumberland to County Durham, Newcastle to Hartlepool, to see which area’s parents received the most fines for letting their children skip school for all-too-often cheaper holidays. To do this, we compared how many fines the council had issued with how many students aged 5-16 were on local rolls.
Here’s how they did, from best (the lowest rate), to worst (the highest):
9. Redcar and Cleveland
Redcar and Cleveland issued 1,428 family holiday fines in the 2023/24 school year. This is the equivalent of about 7.8% of its more than 18 thousand enrolled pupils. | Mark Douglas/Wirestock Creators/Adobe Stock
10. Stockton-on-Tees
Climbing up the ranks now, Stockton-on-Tees issued a whopping 2,715 family holiday fines in the 2023/24 school year. This is the equivalent of about 9.7% of its nearly 28 thousand enrolled pupils. | Adobe Stock
11. South Tyneside
The runner up, South Tyneside issued 1,962 family holiday fines in the 2023/24 school year. This is the equivalent of about 9.8% of its almost 20 thousand enrolled pupils. | Adobe Stock
12. Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough took the dubious honour of handing out the most fines four unauthorised term time holidays last year, with 2,456 of them. This is the equivalent of about 11% of its more than 22 thousand enrolled pupils. | Adobe Stock