It’s been two years since Maddie and I began our parent petition against fines and prosecution of families whose children can’t attend school in response to what was then new Department for Education guidance -Working together to improve school attendance - and our concern that families supporting unwell children would face punitive measures as a result of it.

Since then, little has changed for the better. Against a backdrop of the numbers of young people in mental health crises snowballing, waiting lists for children’s health services that span into years, and Local authorities that resist spending money on education services to protect scant budgets and bankruptcy – the number of fines issued has risen by 20%, as well as an increase in the cost of penalties, now a minimum of £80. Within these conditions the guidance has been updated and will become statutory, as of August 2024.

For young people experiencing mental health difficulties that are severe enough to prevent them from attending school, the latest guidance appears to offer little protection from fines and prosecution. School attendance for children experiencing mental health difficulties is ‘still expected’ and conversations with families are expected to be emphasise the ultimate consequence of where absence might lead to – legal action.

The Department for Education likes taglines (as we’ve seen with its ill-judged ‘moments matter’ campaign) and its guidance repeats ‘support first’ - but words do not put money in Local Authorities hand’s to deliver support. It’s not too difficult to foresee that the guidance’s ‘minimum’- a meeting- may be considered sufficient.

It’s of concern too that penalty notices are recommended where support ‘hasn’t worked’. Mental health issues and barriers to attending school can be complex to solve and take time. How do local authorities or school staff judge whether support is working? The guidance doesn’t say but places the final power to decide with those who lack the professional training to make those decisions. Unfortunately, parents and carers can quickly discover that if schools and local authorities decide to unauthorise absences and choose penalty fines, there is no external oversight for those decisions, however ill-judged they may be.

In such circumstances, families may be forced to consider whether the Education system has their child’s best interests at heart. The surge in Home Education numbers for mental health reasons suggests that this option allows parents to provide learning and support to struggling children.

As campaigners we see the effects of guidance firsthand; supporting a mother whose Local Authority chose prosecution over fulfilling its legal responsibility to update her child’s EHCP. The father whose court case the Local Authority did not attend – cleared by a judge saying, “you shouldn’t be here”.

While the Schools Minister, Damian Hinds, ignores the mental health issues facing 1 in 5 children, families are at risk of finding that they are both supporting a severely unwell child and on a sharp slide from unauthorised absence into fines and prosecution.

Fines and prosecution for families of children who can’t attend school should never happen – and we will continue to share lived experiences of families experiencing heavy handed attendance interventions; our contribution to the growing evidence that action must be taken to protect them.

Thank you for your continued support.

Maddie and Susan

PS You can read what the government has to say about fines here...