PARENTS who took their children out of school during term time have handed over almost £1million in fines during the last four years.

Figures obtained by the Telegraph and Argus through a Freedom of Information request found 17,821 parents received a fine for their child's unauthorised absence and Bradford Council collected £900,720 - but 3,091 have not been paid.

According to the Education Act 1996, "parents are responsible for ensuring their child receives efficient full time education that is suitable to the child’s age, ability and aptitude and to any special educational needs the child may have."

The law states parents can be fined £60 per pupil if they do not comply.

Kirkless Council has collected £441,180 from 6,167 fines in the last four years, however, a further 4,557 were unpaid.

Controversy continues to surround the issue of fining parents for taking children out of school.

Critics of the system argue that holidays are much cheaper when they are taken outside of the school's designated time off, but others say children's learning can be disrupted by missing class work.

Ian Murch, a spokesman for the Bradford National Union of Teachers (NUT), said: "Initially people were scared of the fine and many have been deterred by it, but many people who can afford a holiday look at the fine and think the holiday will be cheaper during term time.

"The company they work for may only allow them time off at a certain time and that may not be when their children are off.

"It has become a price people pay in order to go on holiday.

"You don't want children to miss any lessons, but it might come down to the fact that families will not go on holiday if they do not go during the term."

Mr Murch said something should be done to crack down on families who routinely take their children out of class every year just so they can go abroad.

He added: "If they are going away every year and are missing a substantial amount of lessons every year, they should be fined more because it comes down to truancy.

"The money should certainly go back into schools.

"It would make a difference to have the money put back into education, but I don't know whether it will be used on budgets.

"It sounds like a lot of money, but education in real terms has lost several millions of pounds over the last few years."

A Department for Education spokeswoman said: "No child should be taken out of school without good reason – children only get one chance at an education and evidence shows that every extra day of school missed can affect a pupil’s chances of achieving good GCSEs.

"The rules on term-time absences are clear and we have put schools back in control by supporting them – and local authorities – to use their powers to deal with unauthorised absence."