Man wins court fight over £120 fine for taking daughter on holiday in term time
A father has won a court battle with the Isle of Wight Council to avoid acriminal conviction after he refused to pay a £120 fine for taking hissix-year-old daughter out of school to go on holiday to Florida.
Jon Platt, 44, was issued with the fine by the council after he took his familyon the trip, which included a visit to Walt Disney World, in April despite anabsence request being rejected by the school.
He took his daughters, now aged seven and 10, and his stepson, aged six, for the eight-day trip which took them out of school for six days during term time.
The issue of the fine, which was originally £60 and then doubled because of his refusal to pay, went before the Isle of Wight Magistrates' Court and Mr Platt won his case.
He successfully argued that Section 444 of the Education Act required parents to ensure their children attended school "regularly", and did not putrestrictions on taking them on holidays in term time.
Mr Platt, who runs a PPI claims company, said he paid £1,000 for legal advice for the case because he was "adamant" he had not committed a criminal offence.
He said: "There has been precedent set in the High Court that says thatunauthorised holiday in term time is not in itself a breach of the legislationif the child has attended school regularly.
"My daughter had 100% attendance and by the end of the year because of the holiday she had 94%, that cannot amount to a breach of legislation."
Following the case being thrown out by the magistrates, Mr Platt said: "I amnot in the business of giving advice but all I can say is I believe entirely inthe link between attendance and achievement.
"My children are doing well, their exam results are outstanding, because they attend regularly and if they were missing school for other reasons, theywouldn't be going on holiday.
"If they know they do well, they will go on these spectacular holidays.
"If parents are confident their child attends school regularly, they shouldhave no fear of the consequences of taking them on holiday in term time."
Mr Platt explained that the fine only applied to one of his daughters as thetwo other children are in private education.
Mr Platt described the actions of councils to penalise parents through finesand court action as "malicious prosecutions" aimed at "scaring" parents intoobeying the Department for Education rules.
He added: "I cannot allow a local education authority to tell me what is rightfor my kids - I know what is best for my kids.
"There is no complex loophole - parents have nothing to fear from LEAs (local education authorities) if your children have attended school regularly.
"LEAs are trying to use the legislation intended to stop truancy to stopparents taking their kids on holiday."
Mr Platt said the family had a planned trip to go skiing in the Arctic circleand he was prepared to take the children out of school in term time again ifthey continue their high achievement and general attendance rates.It is understood the court decided there was no case to answer.
A spokeswoman for the Isle of Wight Council said: "We can confirm that thecouncil, as local education authority, had proceeded with legal action in thiscase in accordance with the appropriate legislation, Department for Education regulations and guidance.
"We acknowledge the decision of the court in this matter - and the council iscurrently reviewing this outcome."