IT'S a dilemma for many parents.

While many wouldn't want to take their children out of school, the cost of enjoying a family holiday in the summer months is often too prohibitive forcing many to risk paying a fine instead.

According to an investigation by the Press Association in October, the number of fines given to parents for taking children on holiday in term time has almost trebled in two years.

Figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act showed that in the last academic year alone, at least 50,414 penalty notices were issued due to children being taken out of lessons for trips.

This is up 25 per cent on the year before, when at least 40,218 penalties were given out, and up 173 per cent from the 18,484 fines handed out by local authorities in 2012/13. These figures cover 71 councils that provided data for all three years.

The hikes came in the wake of a Government crackdown on absence, including strict new rules on term-time holidays introduced in England.

However, for some the situation could be eased as Brighton and Hove City Council is proposing to examine a shake-up of its school holiday dates to help hard-pressed families who are faced with steep rises in the cost of breaks.

Inset days could also be coordinated into a block to create a long weekend or even a full week's break at a time when holidays are less dear.

Brighton and Hove City Council's children, young people and skills committee will consider on January 11 whether to discuss the options with the city's schools.

If councillors agree to explore the options, proposals would be brought back to a future committee for talks before further consultation with parents, carers and schools.

Mother-of-three, Jess Robinson, from Ilkley, who runs the local parenting website, Moormums, says: "I have two of my children in school but I can only take holidays during the school holiday period and it is completely unaffordable if you want to go on holiday during the school holidays. The price shoots up to double and it is terribly unfair."

Jess believes schools should have more leeway over holidays. "It needs to be spread out a bit more over the year so families can go away and spend time together."

She also appreciates the problem with childcare. "I speak to a lot of mums and they have a real problem with childcare and end up not working at all because they cannot find a job where they can cover the holidays."

Self-employed mother-of-three, Vicki Gilbert, from Yeadon, believes the summer holidays are too long and would prefer to see other terms throughout the year extended such as a fortnight for the October and February half term instead of a week and a month for the summer.

But Vicki says she doesn't think it will help reduce the cost families face taking breaks at peak periods in the summer. "I think the holiday companies will get wise to it and I think they will be putting the prices up at other times of the year."

Anne-Marie O'Leary, Editor-in-Chief of the parenting website, Netmums, says: "Netmums expects Brighton’s suggestion to be welcomed by lots of families. Some parents have been forced to take their children out of school during term times to avoid the high costs of taking a family holiday during school holidays, but they some have been penalised for doing so.

"The vast majority of parents care greatly about their children's schooling and the current system of fines and 'unauthorised absence' discourages positive relationships between schools and parents. Some flexibility on term-time holiday dates would be encouraged by parents and councils working more closely with schools to find a more manageable solution would be a positive move. This is a topic that has been widely discussed in Netmums' Coffeehouse forum and there is a general consensus that a return to the pre-2013 position where head-teachers could exercise discretion on up to 10 school days missed per year would be welcomed."

But councillor Susan Hinchcliffe, Bradford Council's Executive Member for Education, Skills and Culture, says: "Increasingly schools are becoming academies or free schools, which means that in any case they are able to set their own term dates outside local authority control. This is now the case for more than half of the district's secondary schools. However my own view is that changing term dates substantially would be a huge disruption to schools and families at a time when here in Bradford we are all focused on working hard to raise standards. Any diversion or distraction from raising attainment is unwelcome and I would discourage such moves in Bradford."