THE penalty for taking children out of school has increased as the new autumn term is in full swing. Local authorities across the Liverpool City Region are warning parents they would face additional financial penalties if they choose to go ahead with unauthorised absences for their children.

With students back in the classroom, families who opt to take children out of school without the required permission could face an £80 fine – up by £20 – in the first rise of penalties since 2012. The fines increase to £160 if paid within 28 days.

According to government documentation, in the case of repeated fines, if a parent receives a second fine for the same child within any three-year period, this will be charged at the higher rate of £160. Fines per parent will be capped to two fines within any three-year period.

Once this limit has been reached, other action like a parenting order or prosecution will be considered. Those who are prosecuted for their child not attending school could face a fine of up to £2,500.

Children are only permitted to be out of school for the following reasons:

Your child is too ill to attend that day.

You have asked in advance and been given permission by the school for your child to be absent on that day due to exceptional circumstances.

Your child cannot attend school on that day because it is a day you are taking part in religious observance.

Your local authority is responsible for arranging your child’s transport to school and it is not available on that day or has not been provided yet.

You are a gypsy/traveller family with no fixed abode, and you are required to travel for work that day meaning your child cannot attend their usual school.

According to Liverpool Council, money raised via fines is only used by the local authority to cover the costs of administering the system, and to fund attendance support. Any extra money is returned to the government.

The local authority set out its position online. It said: “Penalty notices are used as a strategy to change behaviour.

“They are particularly relevant where parents/carers are judged capable of securing their child’s attendance but are not sufficiently willing to take responsibility for doing so. Penalty notices for attendance are a strategy recommended to be used in cases where there is an emerging pattern of absence at either a school or an alternative educational placement.”

According to details released by the council, the equivalent of 37,500 days were lost in two terms last year owing to truancy. In October 2022, it was revealed how the equivalent of more than 4,000 school days were missed by pupils at Merseyside’s worst offending site for truancy last year.

According to Department for Education attendance figures, students at Dixons Croxteth Academy had an unauthorised absence rate of 14% through the autumn and spring terms during school year 2022-23. This was higher than any other primary or secondary school across the whole of Merseyside.