North Tyneside hits parents in the pocket in truancy crackdown
Cathy Wallace
Monday, June 2, 2008
Nine families in the north of England have been prosecuted this month for allowing their children to skip school.
North Tyneside council brought the prosecutions as part of a drive to crack down on truancy. In one case a family whose two children had attendance rates of 60 per cent and 63 per cent was fined £200.
A second case saw parents fined £250 after their child’s attendance rate dropped from 29 per cent to 21 per cent despite the offer of help.
The local authority has a fast-track system which means parents who do not help try and find a solution to truanting can be in court within 12 weeks.
Norma Redfearn, cabinet member for children, said: Our education welfare teams work very hard in partnership with schools to ensure we intervene at the earliest stage possible when attendance problems are apparent. We would urge everyone to work closely with us.
In the past year, the council has issued 81 penalty notices of up to £100 against parents for their children’s unauthorised absences from school.
