ALMOST 2,000 fines were handed down to parents who took children out of school in a year - up almost four times on the previous 12 months.

Bradford Council said tougher rules, which parents are falling foul of, were working though as 11,000 fewer school days had been missed in comparative years.

In the 2013/14 academic year, 1,946 fines were given - compared to 503 the previous year.

Bradford’s education boss said after two years of fining parents, the message finally seemed to be getting through, but there could no backing down and he had concerns about a "stubborn and resilient group" who chose to pay they fine and still go away.

The fines are initially £60 per child, per parent, but can rise if they are not paid on time or if challenged in the court. Families can be fined more than once for the same child.

Ian Murch, spokesman for the National Union of Teachers, said: "There is a balance to be struck, we don't want parents to think it is easy to take their children out of school in term time, but some families don't have as much choice.

"If a family originally from Pakistan has a relative who dies or is seriously ill they may have to pay a few thousand pounds to get their family over, so they often don't want to go for just a day."

He said children missing school always created extra work for teachers.

Councillor Ralph Berry, the Council's portfolio holder for Children and Young People’s Services, said the high figure was offset by a drop in the number of days off being taken by pupils.

"After a year or two of fining people, the attendance levels seem to be going up," he said.

"It is a high figure and is still going up. But as a result of it, the number of days off are dropping.

"It doesn’t make me popular - I get people ringing up shouting at me.

"It is affecting our Ofsted ratings, but the most fundamental bit is it is damaging kids' education. We are not in a place we want to be for school performance, so anything that reduces school attendance needs to be tackled.

"Kids in school learn. Kids not in school do not. We have to constantly work on it.

"Where Bradford is at with education and our targets, there can be no backing off on this. We have to get the highest possible attendance - if this means fines then so be it," he said.

Cllr Debbie Davies, Conservative spokesman for education, said: "If a child is off for one or two days in five years then that isn't too bad, it's a problem when families are doing it all the time.

"I don't totally agree with fining parents, but the figure of 11,000 fewer days missed shows it has been successful."

The fixed penalty notices are issued by the Council for all schools in the district, including academies and free schools.

A Council spokesman said: "The national regulations were changed in September 2013, which means that the headteachers can allow term time absences only in the most exceptional circumstances.

"Over 11,000 fewer school days were lost to term time holidays in the 2013/14 autumn and spring terms compared to the same period the previous year."

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