Plea to fight holiday rules in term-time

PARENTS in Oldham facing fines for taking their children out of school for term-time holidays are being encouraged to join forces in a unique legal action.

Solicitors at Simpson Millar ­- which has an office in Manchester ­- have advised that there could be grounds for future legal challenges against local authorities and schools after the Supreme Court ruled that parents cannot take children on term-time trips without schools' authorisation.

Oldham Council was said to be reviewing its position on issuing fines last month, after it stopped fining parents for term-time breaks when John Platt successfully challenged his £60 fine last year.

But five Supreme Court justices unanimously upheld a fine imposed by Isle of Wight Council on Mr Platt who took his daughter to Disney World for five days during term-time.

Patrick Campbell, solicitor and mediator at Simpson Millar, said: "During the Platt case against Isle of Wight Council, and the subsequent appeals by the council, as many as 28 education authorities relaxed their truancy policy ­- despite explicit requests from central government not to do so ­- with several telling parents they would not be prosecuted as long as the child's attendance was above a given threshold.

"Now those authorities are likely to be reviewing their policies to reflect the Supreme Court ruling, meaning parents who were told last year that they could book term-time holidays, may now be prosecuted for taking them.

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"Simpson Millar has since been contacted by a number of parents and is considering the group litigation on their behalf.

"I would encourage any parents who feel they may fall into this category to get in touch with one of Simpson Millar's offices straight away, quoting 'School Fines Class Action'."

Samantha Hale, associate solicitor at Simpson Millar, added: "We will be keeping a close eye on amendments that local authorities and schools are likely to now make to their non-attendance policies.

"We are keen to make sure that any amendments to these policies are lawful and take into account any reliance parents may have placed on what are the current policies, to avoid this being to their detriment."

Since September, 2013, parents have had no entitlement to take their children on holiday during term-time

The law makes it clear that headteachers may not grant holidays or other absences during term time unless there are "exceptional circumstances".

Oldham Council's guidance says these circumstances are things such as unique situations due to parents' work/employment commitments which have been verified by the employer, a trauma or bereavement in the immediate family or an opportunity for a holiday for a terminally ill immediate family member.

The council said there were 2,152 penalty notices issued from 2015-2016 amounting to £129,120. From September, 2016 until May 9, 2017, the authority issued 371 penalty notices.