A MUM fears she may lose her job over a criminal record for taking record for taking her daughter on holiday during school term – as ‘law gone mad’ asks her to PROVE the fine went ‘missing in the post’.
Natalie Saunders jetted off with her daughter Ava Martin-Saunders, eight, to Bodrum in Turkey on May 13th for a week in the sun.
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The 44-year knew ahead of going abroad that her child missing six days of school would be marked as an unauthorised absence, which could result in a £60 fine.
But after returning from their £900 trip, Natalie claims she never received a penalty fine notice in the post and presumed she had dodged it this time around.
The mum-of-one, who works in risk and compliance, says she never chased up her daughter’s charge with the school or local authority as she claims she had heard it was ‘not guaranteed’ to receive one.
However Natalie says she was ‘devastated’ to receive a letter from West Sussex County Council on August 24th saying she had failed to pay her child’s fine and could now be taken to court.
Read more school fine stories
She has now received a single justice procedure notice outlining she is being charged under Section 444 (1) of the Education Act 1996.
As a result, Natalie says she is now facing a potential criminal conviction and a £1,000 fine despite claiming she never received a letter about the fine in the first place.
Section 444 (1) of the Education Act 1996 states that if a child of compulsory school age who is a registered pupil at a school fails to attend regularly at school, his parent is guilty of an offence.
A person charged with the offence has to prove they had a ‘reasonable justification’ for their child’s failure to attend regularly at the school.
Since receiving the initial investigation letter, Natalie says she has been in ongoing contact with West Sussex County Council but claims they are continuing with legal proceedings.
She slammed the ‘madness’ of the law as she has reportedly been told the onus is on her to ‘prove she hasn’t received the letter’, rather than on the council to prove they sent it.
Even when she claims to have paid the fine late, the sums were refunded into her account and has been now been given 21 days from November 5th to plead guilty or not to the charge.
Natalie, from Crawley in West Sussex, said: “We went on holiday from May 13th to May 20th which meant she missed six days of school.
“When I took her out of school, the guidance was anything over five days you were likely to receive a fine so I knew I was likely to receive a fine.
“I weighed it all up and was happy to pay the £60 fine. It was a lot cheaper [to take her in term time]. She was eight years old and didn’t have any important exams or tests.
What school fines can parents receive?
THE main issue that can lead to parents receiving a fine is missing school.
Currently, it’s the decision of the local council whether or not to issue a parent a fine for their child missing school.
However, from August this year, the fine for absences will up to the school to consider – when a child has missed 10 or more sessions for unauthorised reasons.
And the fine will be £80 if paid within 21 days, or £160 if paid within 28 days – this is issued to EACH parent.
It’s the first time the fine has been increased since 2012, and is in line with inflation.
If a parent receives a second fine for the same child within three years, this will automatically be charged at the higher rate of £160.
Fines will be capped at two fines within a three-year period.
After this limit has been reached, prosecution or a parenting order may be considered.
According to the official government website, there are only five reasons your child should be absent from school if the school is open.
These are as follows:
- Your child is too ill to attend that day
- You have asked in advance and been given permission by the school for your child to be absent on that day due to exceptional circumstances
- Your child cannot attend school on that day because it is a day you are taking part in religious observance
- Your local authority is responsible for arranging your child’s transport to school and it is not available on that day or has not been provided yet
- You are a gypsy/traveller family with no fixed abode, and you are required to travel for work that day meaning your child cannot attend their usual school
“Her attendance record was good and she is also exactly where she needs to be in terms of capabilities. I just thought it was only six days.
“I never chased up the fine because friends and family said you don’t always receive a fine. The fine wasn’t guaranteed, it was just that you could receive one.
“Because I hadn’t received one I just didn’t think I was going to get fined so I didn’t chase it up.
“The first letter that I received, which would have been the second letter they sent [West Sussex County Council], was dated July 18th but I didn’t receive it until August 24th.
“This letter was telling me that because I didn’t accept the offer of the fixed penalty notice it said that it was now down to the local authorities to prepare court papers for the offence.
“It’s not nice to receive letters like this. It’s now the intention of the local authorities to prepare court papers and it said I could get a fine up to £1,000 and receive a criminal record.
“The idea of getting a criminal record is devastating. I’m a good person. If I wasn’t, I would have just taken my daughter off ‘ill’ for those six days. Even if the truth is bad, it is better than lying.
“It’s a criminal record. I don’t want this against my name. I’ve got a good job and work in risk and compliance and I am studying for a diploma to further my career and this could stop me in my tracks. It could ruin this.”
Natalie said this was the first time she has ever taken her daughter on holiday during term time and says she did it because trips were dramatically cheaper.
She claims she has never been given a ‘fair’ chance to pay the fine and claims the council has had her email address the whole time so could have reached out electronically regarding the fine as well but never did.
And despite raising ‘mitigating factors’ to West Sussex County Council including the alleged ‘poor’ postal service in her area, she says they are still set on taking her to court.
Natalie said: “West Sussex County Council has said that the onus is on me to prove that I never received the fine letter and in a legal round anything sent first class post is up to the recipient to prove that I haven’t received it and not to prove they hadn’t sent it, which is madness.
“I haven’t seen any proof from them [the council] that they have posted the letter.
“There are lots of mitigating circumstances that they are considering in this. West Sussex County Council are using the Royal Mail which is just not delivering.
“In Crawley my MP told me there is a shortage of staff at Royal Mail and Crawley is one of the top five worst performing towns in the UK.
“There are also issues with posties getting into the development where I live and parcels and postal thefts occur daily on my development.”
After receiving her initial court letter, Natalie claims she requested a copy of the fixed penalty notice letter that was ‘lost in the post’ and says she was still able to pay the fine late online.
But after successfully making a £60 payment and then the increased £120 fixed penalty payment to West Sussex County Council, she claims these amounts were refunded straight back to her account.
Natalie said: “After all of this, I would never take my daughter out of school in term time. We were going to rebook for next year but we’re not going to anymore.
“I’ve been told now I’m better off pleading guilty because the offence is that I’ve taken my daughter out of school. It’s a mess.
“They said if I plead not guilty I would have to have a court hearing and would be found guilty anyway despite all the mitigating factors I have raised.
“I am guilty of taking my daughter out of school but I would have paid the fine if I received it but I never did.”
West Sussex County Council said they are directed by headteachers to take a strong stance against parents taking their children on holiday during term time.
A West Sussex County Council spokesperson said: “The DfE is clear in its position that every moment in school counts and it has directed headteachers to take a strong stance on unauthorised holidays in term time.
“We follow the DfE National Guidelines on the use and issuing of Fixed Penalty Notices in such cases, ensuring a consistency of approach and practice.
“Unpaid fines are referred to the court process where parents are able to give their mitigation should they choose.
“In all cases the Fixed Penalty Notice and legal services teams follow the established legal process and the published code of conduct to ensure consistency and fairness to all cases.”
Peter Lamb, Natalie’s Crawley Labour MP, who she has been corresponding with over the matter, said not letting her pay the fine late is putting her child’s wellbeing at risk.
Mr Lamb said: “We can all appreciate the importance of avoiding unauthorised absences, but the county council’s decision to prosecute Ms Saunders when she has indicated that she would pay a fine, putting at risk her employment, amounts to risking the future wellbeing of a child while wasting taxpayer money in the process.”
After Natalie claimed the fixed penalty notice was never delivered, she says she also contacted the Royal Mail to chase this up but claims they couldn’t help any further.
A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “We take the delivery of mail very seriously and work to ensure all items are delivered on time. We have taken strides to improve our service in Crawley and nationally.
“If a customer is concerned about deliveries on their route, we encourage them to contact us directly so we can investigate.”
