Changes to Penalty Notices for School Absence from 19th August 2024 - including guidance and resources.

National Threshold

There will be a single consistent national threshold for when a penalty notice must be considered by all schools in England. This threshold increases the amount of the penalty notice payment and a new national limit of 2 penalty notices within a 3- year rolling period with the view of breaking repeat offending.

Penalty notices will be considered for 5 days of unauthorised absence within a rolling 10 school week period. These sessions do not have to be consecutive and can be made up of combination of any type of unauthorised absence. The 10-school week period can span different terms or schools’ years.

The City of Doncaster Council will prioritise the ‘support first’ approach in line with the DfE’s ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ guidance, only resorting to legal enforcement, when necessary. We expect that support will have been offered to families in cases where it is more appropriate. However, Penalty Notices can be issued without a Notice to Improve in cases where support is not appropriate (such as leave of absence in term time, i.e. Holiday) and that they are the most appropriate tool to change parental behaviour and improve attendance.

Penalty Notices are requested by schools and academies and if appropriate issued by the Local Authority to the parents/carers of children who are statutory school age.

Penalty notices will be issued for each parent, for each child that was absence.

For example: 3 siblings absent for term time leave will result in each parent receiving 3 separate fines.

First Offence

The first time a Penalty Notice is issued for:

Term Time Leave or irregular attendance.

The amount will be: £160 per parent, per child when paid within 28 days.

Reduced to £80 per parent, per child if paid within 21 days.

Any non-payment of the Penalty Notice may be referred to the Magistrates Court

Second Offence (within three years)

The second time a Penalty Notice is issued for.

Term Time Leave or irregular attendance.

The amount will be: £160 per parent, per child when paid within 28 days.

(No option to pay at £80 level)

Any non-payment of the Penalty Notice may be referred to the Magistrates Court

Third Offence and any further offences (within 3 years)

The third time an offence is committed a Penalty Notice will not be issued, and the case may be presented straight to the Magistrates Court under s.444 of the Education Act (1996) or other legal interventions considered. The Magistrates’ Court can order fines up to £2500 per parent per child.

Cases found guilty in the Magistrates’ Court can show on the parent’s future DBS Certificate and may impact on job applications and travel abroad.

Leave of Absence

Penalty Notices can be requested by schools for leave of absence in term time for 5 or more days. This can be consecutive absence, or non- consecutive.

Unauthorised Absence

Penalty Notices can be requested by schools when there have been 10 sessions of unauthorised absence in a 10-week rolling period. In these circumstances a Notice to Improve may be sent to the parent by the Local Authority on behalf of the school prior to the notice being issued. The notice to improve will note the support that has already been applied and the continued support that is available to the parent and child to improve their attendance. The Notice to Improve will also detail the expected improvements that must be made over an agreed timescale to prevent the Penalty Notice being issued.

Court prosecutions

Penalty Notices will not automatically be issued they will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Parents are advised that where the LA considers that a Penalty Notice is not appropriate due to the level of concern about a child’s absence, prosecution action may be taken or other legal interventions.

Further information on the National Framework can be found within Working Together to Improve Attendance 2024. The National Framework comes into effect from 19th August 2024.

Resources

Penalty Notice Poster

Download the Penalty Notice Poster.

Read the Statutory Guidance

The Department for Education have produced statutory guidance for maintained schools, academies, independent schools and local authorities under their 'Working Together to Improve School attendance' report.

 

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