Fines for poor school attendance in East Sussex remain a 'last resort'

At a cabinet meeting on Monday (June 27), East Sussex County Council’s lead member for education Bob Standley faced questions related to proposals within the government’s Schools Bill, which is currently making its way through Parliament.

Among the measures set out in the bill are plans to increase the maximum penalty a parent can face for breaching a Schools Attendance Order.

Similar to old style ASBOs, these orders, issued by local authorities like ESCC, require a parent to register their child at a named school.

Currently parents can currently be fined up to £1,000 for breaching these orders. The new measures would increase this fine to £2,500 or lead to up to three months imprisonment.

While a parent could already face the same sanctions if prosecuted for knowingly failing to ensure their child is attending school, attaching the stronger penalties to the orders would essentially speed up the process of doing so.

These proposals saw some concerns raised by Lib Dem Alan Shuttleworth, who asked: “Does the lead member agree with me that many of the families who are struggling with attendance have children with special educational needs and in some cases are suffering from mental health problems?