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- The Government increased fines to discourage parents from taking their children out of school
Travelers looking to save on holidays will now have to avoid both sides of the semester thanks to new regulations.
Last month, the Government introduced rules to discourage parents from taking their children out of school during holidays and other unauthorized absences.
The minimum fine for parents who take their children out of school during term time without permission has increased from £60 to £80.
If parents do not pay the fine within 21 days, it doubles to £160.
Holiday hit: Travelers looking to save on holiday risk have been advised to avoid weeks running parallel to official school holidays.
Penalty notices are issued to each parent who allows their child to be absent. This means that three siblings who had an unauthorized absence during term time would result in each parent who allowed the absence receiving three separate fines.
Now a travel agency is warning that fines could have a detrimental effect on holiday prices.
Travelers without children have generally been advised to travel outside of school holidays to avoid price increases.
However, Holidaybuzz says it anticipates an increase in the “forward peak”, where the cost of a holiday may increase on either side of the mid-term holidays.
Holidaybuzz advises that families looking to save money without being fined can choose to overlap their holidays with official school holidays to minimize the number of days of unauthorized absence.
This would help avoid exceeding the new fine threshold, which is equivalent to five school days over a 10-week period.
One family who booked through the agent said they planned to return a day after the school term started to save almost £800 on their holiday to Fuerteventura in January.
Holidaybuzz’s Jason Waldron says: “While we do not support the practice of taking children out of school during the holidays, we recognize the reasons why some families may choose to do so during these periods, as prices can almost double during the high season. ‘
However, there are some ways families can comply with the new leave rules and save on their vacation.
They can opt for a five-night vacation instead of seven, which helps them avoid more expensive weekend flights.
Holidaybuzz says a five-day trip to Lisbon could cost as little as £235 during the school holidays, if you avoid flying on Saturdays and Sundays.
Other tips include booking as early as possible and opting for a destination whose low season coincides with mid-term breaks, such as the Caribbean in August or October half-term.
Will you be fined if you take a child out of school during the holidays?
Previously, children could only miss school if they were too sick to attend or had received prior permission from the school.
If a parent wants to take their children out of school during term time, there must be “exceptional circumstances” and they must make a request in advance to the headteacher, who will authorize the absence at his or her discretion.
Local authorities control their own policies on when to impose fines, so the likelihood of receiving a fine will depend entirely on which council the child’s school belongs to.
To avoid inconsistencies, the previous Government issued a new “national framework” to determine when all schools should consider a penalty notice.
These new rules say schools should consider a fine if a child has missed 10 sessions, equivalent to five days of school, without prior permission.
The minimum fine for parents who take their children out of school during term time without permission has risen to £80.
If a parent receives a second fine for the same child within a three-year period, they will be immediately charged £160.
Fines per parent will be capped at two fines within three years and once that limit is reached, the Department for Education says it will be considered a parenting order or prosecution.
If you go to court because your child has not attended school, you could be fined up to £2,500 and could appear on a parent’s future DBS certificate for “failing to safeguard a child’s education”.
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