The North West saw enormous variation in how many families were fined for taking term-time holidays by council area, in a record-breaking year for parents.
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 when records began - 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.
We’ve taken a look at each of the local authorities responsible for schools across the North West, from the Greater Manchester region, to Lancashire, to Cheshire, to Merseyside, to see which area’s parents received the most fines for letting their children skip school for 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.
Under the new rules local authorities now have to consider fining parents who take their children out of school for a term-time holiday, but it’s worth noting that this was not always the case. The Warrington Borough Council previously did not fine parents for unauthorised holidays - and has been excluded from the data - while some other councils issued exceptionally low numbers.
Here’s how they did, from best (the lowest rate), to worst (the highest):
17. Sefton
Sefton issued 3,324 family holiday fines in the 2023/24 school year. This is the equivalent of 9.4% of its more than 35 thousand enrolled pupils. | Adobe Stock
18. Salford
Getting into the slightly higher figures now, Greater Manchester's Salford issued 3,652 family holiday fines in the 2023/24 school year. This is the equivalent of 10.5% of its nearly 35 thousand enrolled pupils - or about one in 10. | Adobe Stock
19. Blackpool
Blackpool issued 1,942 family holiday fines in the 2023/24 school year. This is the equivalent of 10.6% of its 18 thousand enrolled pupils. | Adobe Stock
20. Blackburn with Darwen
Blackburn with Darwen issued 3,120 family holiday fines in the 2023/24 school year. This is the equivalent of 12.2% of its more than 25 thousand enrolled pupils. | Adobe Stock