Truancy fines to be docked from parents’ benefits

Now 40% of fines go unpaid.

Cameron said: “We are determined to tackle the harm truancy does to a child’s chances in life”.

Child benefit will be automatically docked when parents do not pay truancy penalties.

That is expected to change after the government announced its intention to introduce tougher measures to address truancy, including deducting the cost of unpaid penalty notices from Child Benefit.

The new mandatory penalty for each offence will be 60 pounds (91 USA dollars) if paid within 21 days and 120 pounds (183 US dollars) subsequently.

The prime minister said it was up to parents to “make sure your children attend school” and avoid sanctions. But two-fifths of parents still fail to pay and many do not end up in court because councils do not press legal action.

But Chris Keates, general secretary of teachers union NASUWT, does not think cutting child benefits is the answer.

If families are not in receipt of child benefit but still refuse to pay the fine, new rules will allow officials to pursue them for the money through the courts.

A parenting order requires parents to go to parenting classes; an education supervision order will see a supervisor appointed to help get children to school; while a school attendance order requires parents to send their child to a specific school.

Around three quarters of these were found guilty with courts issuing 9,214 fines worth an average of £172.

Mr Cameron also said that parents will be given a new “right to request” childcare in the form of breakfast and after-school clubs.

Schools do not have to sign up to the scheme but they will be asked by the Government to account for why they don’t want to support childcare providers using their facilities. The right to request will apply to all state-maintained primary schools, as well as academies and free schools, but headteachers will not have to consider requests to use their sites during school hours or when they already operate clubs.

According to the Conservatives: “This will increase the supply of child care for working parents outside school hours, improving the availability of child care so parents are able to work for longer if they choose to do so”.

Cameron added: “Ensuring children get the best start in life is at the heart of our plans”.