Penalty notice code of conduct

Regular and punctual attendance of students at school is both a legal requirement (Section 7 of the Education Act 1996) and essential for students to maximise the opportunities available to them to reach their full potential. It is parent(s) or carer's responsibility to ensure their child/ren receive(s) efficient full-time education that is suitable to their child's age, aptitude and to any special educational needs the child may have.

Education-related penalty notices were introduced by the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 which amended section 444 of the Education Act 1996 to allow parents to be issued with a penalty where they failed to ensure their child of compulsory school age (5-16) and school registered had irregular attendance.

Section 103 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006 also requires parents of excluded pupils to ensure that their child is not found present in a public place during school hours in the first five days of their exclusion from school without a justifiable reason.

The Education (Penalty Notice) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2012 effective from 1 September 2012 increased the amount payable from a parent when a penalty notice has been issued. This applies to any parent who fails to ensure the regular attendance of their child who is of compulsory school age and who is a registered pupil at a school or who fails to ensure their child who is subject to an exclusion from school is not found in a public place during school hours without a justifiable reason.

The Education (Penalty Notices) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2013 effective from 1 September 2013 reduce the timescales for paying a penalty notice bringing attendance penalty notices in line with other types of penalty notices. Parents must, from 1 September 2013, pay £60 within 21 days or £120 within 28 days. Penalty notices are issued per parent per child.

If parents fail in their duties, they commit an offence either under section 444A of the Education Act 1996 or section 103 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006 and can be served with a penalty notice by an authorised officer. Full payment of the penalty discharges the parent from liability for prosecution as the payment of the penalty notice is an alternative to prosecution in the magistrate court.

Penalty notices offer a means for swift intervention, which the Local Authority will use to improve attendance as an early measure to prevent non-attendance becoming entrenched.

Stockton-on-Tees Local Authority will ensure the smooth administration of the necessary process in order to fully comply with the legislation on Human Rights and ensure the consistent, fair and transparent application of penalty notices. This Code of Conduct will govern the issuing of penalty notices in Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council and will be reviewed annually.

This Code of Conduct was reviewed following the case of Isle of Wight Council (Appellant) v Platt (Respondent) [2017] UKSC 28 which was heard in the Supreme Court in 2017. That case clarified the definition of "regular attendance" and found that "regular" means in accordance with school rules. If the school requires that a child attends i.e. the school have not authorised a request for leave of absence during term time, then the parent/carer commits an offence if he/she takes the child out of school.

Legislation and guidance

Personnel authorised to operate this Code must have regard to the following legislation and guidance:

• The Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000
• The Race Relations (Statutory Duties) Order 2001
• Disability Discrimination Act 1995
• Data Protection Act 1998
• Children Act 1989
• Crime and Disorder Act 1998
• Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Code of Practice 2015
• Education Act 1996
• The Education and Inspections Act 2006
• The Equality Act 2010
• The Education (Penalty Notice) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2012
• The Education (Penalty Notice) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2013
• The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2013

Section 576 Education Act 1996: Definition of a Parent

The education-related provisions of the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 apply to all parents who fall within the definition set out in this section of the Education Act 1996. This defines 'parent' as:

• all natural parents, whether they are married or not
• any person who, although they are not a natural parent, has parental responsibility (as defined in the Children Act 1989) for a child or young person
• any person who, although not a natural parent, has care of a child or young person - having care of a child or young person means that a person with whom the child lives and who looks after the child, irrespective of what their relationship is with the child is considered to be a parent in education law

Throughout this document, all references to 'parent' mean each and every parent coming within this definition, whether acting jointly or separately, and should not be taken to mean that provisions only apply to 'parent' in the singular

Penalty notices will be issued by the Attendance Team, with the agreement of the Attendance and Safeguarding Manager. The Attendance and Safeguarding Manager will ensure that the issuing of penalty notices is closely monitored and evaluated and complements the other duties carried out by the Attendance Team.

No penalty notice will be issued without the issue of the relevant warning notice and the pursuance of relevant assessment of the individual case.

The Attendance Team will issue penalty notices by post

No one parent will receive more than two separate penalty notices resulting from the unauthorised absence of an individual child in any twelve month period.

The Attendance Team, on behalf of Stockton-on-Teees Borough Council, will receive and administer all referrals for the issue of penalty notices from all schools in its area including academies and free schools. These requests will be actioned providing:

• the information received meets the criteria for the issue of a penalty notice which is specified in the Code of Conduct and;
• all necessary information is provided to the Attendance Team in order to establish that an offence has been committed under Section 444 (1) of the Education Act 1996

The Attendance Team will ensure that duplicate penalty notices are not issued and that any action taken is compliant with the relevant legislation and that no conflict arises with other statutory interventions.

Each parent will receive a separate warning letter and penalty notice for each child.

That the issuing of the penalty notice would be effective in getting the pupil back into education.

The parent must not have a previous conviction for non-attendance.

A minimum absence of 10 sessions (5 school days) which are classed as unauthorised during the previous 8 school weeks must be on the pupils attendance register.

Where a penalty notice warning letter is issued for 10 sessions of unauthorised absence in the previous eight school weeks the pupil's attendance will be monitored for 4 school weeks.

If any unauthorised absence is recorded during this 4 week monitoring period the Attendance Team will consider the issue of a penalty notice to each parent. Each parent will receive a separate penalty notice.

In cases of unauthorised leave of absence for the purpose of a family holiday the head teacher or principal of the school or academy should issue to the parent a warning letter detailing their decision not to authorise the leave and explain why the exceptional circumstances criteria has not been met. A minimum absence of 10 sessions (5 school days) for taking holiday leave during the current term without permission of the head teacher must be accrued and this information forwarded to the local authority Attendance Team by means of a referral. A copy of the warning letter issued by the head teacher and all relevant and requested referral information should be sent to the Attendance Team before a penalty notice can be issued. (Please see Appendix 7 for Penalty Notice Checklist)

The local authority will make the decision whether or not to issue the penalty notice. The local authority will also take into consideration any instance where it appears a parent deliberately or wilfully acted to circumvent the manner in which this policy operates.

In cases where the pupil has been found to be in a public place during school hours without reasonable justification, the letter of exclusion sent by the head teacher at the point of exclusion is considered to be the warning letter in these instances. It should be accompanied by a referral that details evidence that the pupil was in a public place.

The local authority may withdraw a penalty notice in any case which the authority determines:

• an offence has not been committed
• it was issued outside the terms of the Code of Conduct
• it ought not to have been issued to the person named as the recipient
• if the parent can prove it was issued to the wrong address
• it contains material errors

A notice of the withdrawal shall be given to the recipient. Any amount paid by way of penalty in pursuance of that notice shall be repaid to the person who paid it.

In relation to a withdrawn penalty notice, no prosecution shall be commenced for those circumstances against the recipient of the notice for an offence under section 444 of the Education Act 1996.