Truancy Fines Should Come Directly From Child Benefit - Report Says

A government advisor on school behaviour has said parents of children who are regularly play truant should have their child benefit cut.

Behaviour tsar Charlie Taylor has said the cut in child-benefit should be used to directly pay truancy fines in a crackdown on absenteeism.

The current system of penalty notices is ineffective, he says, as non-payment rarely leads to prosecution.

Education Secretary, Michael Gove, asked Mr Taylor to look at the issue of school attendance in the wake of England's riots last September.

Publishing his review, Mr Taylor will say 54m days of school were missed last year even though some schools went to great lengths to tackle attendance issues.

The latest figures show 400,000 children were persistently absent from England's schools in the past year and missed about one month of school each.

"Some parents simply allow their children to miss lessons and then refuse to pay the fine,” Taylor has said.

“It means the penalty has no effect, and children continue to lose vital days of education they can never recover.

"Recouping the fines through child benefit, along with other changes to the overall system, will strengthen and simplify the system. It would give head teachers the backing they need in getting parents to play their part."

Currently, penalty notices for truancy can be issued to parents who allow their children to miss too much school.

Head teachers, council officers and the police, can issue notices and these can lead to fines of £50 - doubling to £100 if parents fail to pay within 28 days. At this point the issuer has to prosecute or withdraw the penalty notice.