Two Solihull parents fined for children’s unauthorised school absences

On Friday 16th February, two parents from Solihull were fined a total of £1,434 for their children’s unauthorised absences from school.

A father was sentenced at Birmingham Magistrates Court after he allowed his child to take one week’s unauthorised leave of absence from Fordbridge Community Primary School.

SMBC stated that it’s ‘the council’s first successful prosecution for unauthorised leave of absence since the Supreme Court Ruling’.

The defendant, who failed to attend court, was fined £220 and ordered to pay costs of £350, plus a victim surcharge of £30, bringing the total fine to £600.

A mother was also sentenced at Birmingham Magistrates Court after her child failed to attend Smiths Wood Academy for 36 sessions between May and October 2017.

The defendant, who failed to attend court, was fined £440 and ordered to pay costs of £350 as well as a victim surcharge of £44, bringing the total fine to £834.

For further information regarding truancy and unauthorised absences, visit Solihull Council’s website: www.solihull.gov.uk/Resident/Schools-learning/schoolattendance

Read more: http://www.solihull.gov.uk/news/ArtMID/820/ArticleID/2003/Two-Solihull-parents-fined-for-children’s-unauthorised-absences