Hartlepool MP Jonathan Brash launches petition calling on Westminster to scrap school attendance fines

Week after week, I hear from hard-working mums, dads and grandparents who feel they are being treated like criminals simply because they took their children away for a few days.

I don’t support these fines, and I believe it’s time they were scrapped.

The first question any Government should ask before handing out financial penalties is simple: do they actually work?

The answer is no.

There is no convincing evidence that fining parents improves school attendance. If the policy was delivering results, attendance would be improving. Instead, families are left with hundreds of pounds in fines while the underlying problems remain unsolved.

For many working families, a week’s holiday during the school holidays costs hundreds or even thousands of pounds more than exactly the same holiday a week earlier or later.

Holiday companies know families have little choice and cash in by dramatically increasing their prices. That isn’t fair either.

If I had my way, I would also stop travel companies and holiday firms exploiting families through these massive school holiday price hikes.

Working people shouldn’t be forced to choose between paying extortionate prices or risking a fine.

The truth is that attendance is often far more complicated than simply deciding whether to go to school. Some children face anxiety, mental health challenges, additional needs or other serious barriers that make regular attendance incredibly difficult.

Financially punishing families already doing everything they can doesn’t solve those problems. In many cases, it simply piles more stress and pressure onto households that are already struggling.

We should be supporting families, not penalising them.

That means investing in attendance support, mental health services, early intervention and practical help to get children back into classrooms. It means tackling the reasons behind poor attendance rather than reaching straight for another fine.

I know many people across Hartlepool feel exactly the same.

That’s why I’m launching a parliamentary petition calling for school attendance fines to be abolished. If you’d like to add your name, please get in touch.

Email my office ([email protected]), or call into my constituency office at 206 York Road and sign it in person.

Together, let’s send a clear message to Westminster: stop punishing working families and start backing them instead.