POLL RESULTS: Are schools right to fine parents of children who are consistently late?

Yesterday we asked people whether they thought schools had the right to impose fixed penalties of £60 if students turn up late for class on a regular basis.

And it looks like readers are in support of headteachers, with 62 per cent saying fines are the right way to go.

Schools in Hampshire are among those who have been advised to extend the £60 fixed penalties to also include lateness.

In its latest guidance to schools, published in 2015, Hampshire County Council advised that a fine could be issued if a pupil had been late on at least 10 occasions, with these marked down as unauthorised absences.

But it added that fines were not given out automatically at that stage, and only when other strategies such as formal warnings had been tried.

Hampshire County Council oversee all schools in Hampshire, except in Southampton and Portsmouth, where schools are advised by the city council.

Alison Jeffery, director of children’s services at Portsmouth City Council, said: ‘We will always aim to ensure schools, parents and carers work together to improve pupil attendance and deal with any lateness issues.

‘However if there is no improvement schools can request that we issue a penalty notices. Usually this would be for reasons of both lateness and absence but we have occasionally issued fines solely for lateness.

‘This would typically be for a pupil being significantly late after registration has closed on an regular basis, rather than occasionally being five minutes late.’

Parents or carers would be issued with a formal written warning and given 30 days to improve before the penalty notice is issued.

________________

What do you think? Is fining parents the right way to improve lateness? Have your say by emailing [email protected] or going on our Facebook page.