Council-by-council: Parents fined for term-time travel
Thousands of fines have been issued this school year to parents who have taken their children on unauthorised holidays to apparently avoid rocketing travel costs during term breaks, ITV News has found.
The survey, conducted as MPs come to debate whether travel firms should curb the rising price of out-of-term holidays, received figures from councils across the country and confirmed thousands of pounds have been raised by the charge system.
East Sussex Council alone has received nearly £20,000 from less than 500 fines issued over the last six months.
The local authorities confirmed the number and scale of the fines issued from September last year to the present day and how many families are facing court action for failing to pay them:
Bedford Council
No. of fines issued for unauthorised time off in term-time for holiday travel: 98
Total value of these fines: £14,820
No. of families facing potential court action for non-payment: 5
Coventry Council
No. of fines: 133
Total value: Figure not disclosed.
Families to court: Figure not disclosed.
Durham Council
No. of fines: 80
Total value: £3,360
Families to court: 15
East Sussex Council
No. of fines: 489
Total value: £19,820
Families to court: Figure not disclosed.
Kent Council
No. of fines: 1,306
Total value: Figure not disclosed.
Families to court: Figure not disclosed.
Leeds Council
No. of fines: 366
Total value: Figure not disclosed.
Families to court: Figure not disclosed.
Liverpool Council
No. of fines: 250
Total value: £15,540
Families to court: Figure not disclosed.
Nottinghamshire Council
No. of fines: 44
Total value: Figure not disclosed.
Families to court: 38
Staffordshire Council
No. of fines: 3
Total value: £180
Families to court: 0
Wolverhampton Council
No. of fines: 27
Total value: Figure not disclosed.
Families to court: Figure not disclosed.
Worcestershire Council
No. of fines: 50
Total value: Figure not disclosed.
Families to court: 0
ITV News is still awaiting a response from a number of other councils contacted during the survey.