News

Education welfare officers will be among those expected to hand out fines to the parents of persistent truants under proposals that the Home Office and the Department for Education and Skills have just put out for consultation.

The on-the-spot fines, which could also be issued by head teachers and the police, are intended as an alternative to the criminal prosecution of parents deemed not to be trying hard enough to keep their children in school.

Among the other proposals in the document, which offers guidance on the best use of antisocial behaviour powers, are the introduction of parenting orders and contracts for those whose children have regularly missed school and have failed to improve their attendance. Education minister Ivan Lewis said children had a "fundamental right to education" and parents had to play a role in ensuring they attended school regularly. "Where parents are simply unwilling to fulfil their responsibilities, it must be right that society demands legal sanctions," he said.   

Bill Badham, development officer, National Youth Agency
"The annual jaunt I make each July with my son to Le Tour de France may cost £100 more if I get a fixed penalty fine because it's term time. And, if I dig in my heels, I may get done for £1,000. And if I still refuse to pay, will I be liable to imprisonment for non-payment? 'Antisocial behaviour' is a term invented to justify criminal sanctions being applied to non-criminal activity. And the government has decided to extend its scope despite massive opposition and - it confesses - lack of evidence about how it's working anyway. This is not a good move."

Karen Squillino, primary prevention co-ordinator, Barnardo's
"This is probably one of the most na‹ve and poorly thought out policies I have ever come across. The thinking that underpins the 'hitting people in the pocket' concept has obviously been dreamed up by civil servants who are not in touch with the reasons why we have such high truancy rates in this country. Families need to be worked with in a supportive and inclusive way. On-the-spot fines will do nothing to reduce truancy figures and the money spent trying to recover the fines imposed is another point worth considering."

Julia Ross, social services director, London Borough of Barking and Dagenham
"It's of course nonsense to treat parents like traffic offenders; it's demeaning, ridiculous and totally impractical. I like the idea of immediate penalties for petty misdemeanours but this is not the sort of problem that will be amenable and I feel very sorry for the education welfare officers. I sincerely hope there will be no attempt to include social workers as spot finers."

Bob Hudson, senior associate, University of Birmingham health services management centre
"Children have a right to an education, but slapping heavy fines on parents who probably can't afford to pay them hardly adds up to an effective strategy. Education welfare officers need, yet again, to ask themselves whether they are truancy officers or social workers, and the government needs to ask itself whether a strategy of social inclusion can be built upon a punitive platform."

Felicity Collier, chief executive, Baaf Adoption and Fostering
"We cannot treat truancy like train ticket evasions or education welfare officers like ticket inspectors. To do so will create conflict between parents, children and schools and remove the possibility of the effective partnerships which are the best way we have to help us understand why children truant. There are no simple causes - what about children who persistently miss school for fear of bullying? Are we going to punish foster carers looking after the children who have always truanted? Or shall we just punish the corporate parents, the social workers?"