Holiday prices in the weeks either side of the school holidays will rise, an expert has warned
- The government increased fines to discourage parents from taking their children out of school
Travelers looking to save on holidays will now have to avoid both sides of the holiday thanks to new regulations.
Last month the government introduced rules to stop parents taking their children out of school during holidays and other unauthorized absences.
The minimum fine for parents who take their children from school without permission has increased from £60 to £80.
If parents do not pay their fine within 21 days, it will be doubled to £160.
Holiday hit: Travelers looking to save on holiday risks are advised to avoid the weeks either side of official school holidays
The penalty notice is issued to any parent who allows their child to be absent. This means that three siblings having an unexcused absence during the school year would result in each parent who authorized the absence receiving three separate fines.
Now a travel agency is warning that the fines could have a detrimental effect on holiday prices.
In general, travelers without children are advised to travel outside school holidays to avoid price increases.
However, Holidaybuzz says it anticipates an increase in ‘peak creep’, whereby costs for holidays could rise on either side of the holidays.
Holidaybuzz warns that families wanting to save money without being fined can choose to overlap their holidays with official school holidays to minimize the number of unauthorized absence days.
This would help prevent the new fine threshold, which is equivalent to five school days over a ten-week period, being exceeded.
A family who booked through the tour company said they were planning to return a day after the start of the school year so they could save almost £800 on their holiday to Fuerteventura in January.
Jason Waldron from Holidaybuzz said: ‘While we do not support the practice of taking children out of school during holidays, we do recognize the reasons why some families choose to do this during these periods as prices can almost double during peak season. ‘
However, there are some ways families can adhere to the new absence rules and save on their holidays.
They can opt for a five-night holiday instead of seven, avoiding the more expensive weekend flights.
Holidaybuzz says a five-day trip to Lisbon during the school holidays can cost as little as £235, if you don’t fly on Saturdays and Sundays.
Other tips include booking as early as possible and choosing a destination whose low season coincides with short breaks, such as the Caribbean in August or October.
Will you be fined if you pick up a child from school on holiday?
Previously, children could only miss school if they were too sick to go to school or if they had received prior permission from the school.
If a parent wants to take their children out of school during the school year, there must be ‘exceptional circumstances’ and they must make a prior request to the principal, who will authorize the absence at their discretion.
Local authorities set their own policies regarding issuing fines, so the likelihood of fines will depend entirely on which municipality a child’s school is in.
To avoid inconsistencies, the previous government issued a new ‘national framework’ for when a penalty notice should be considered by all schools.
These new rules say schools should consider fining a child if a child has missed ten sessions, equivalent to five days of school, without prior permission.
The minimum fine for parents who take their children out of school without permission has been increased to £80.
If a parent receives a second fine for the same child within a three-year period, they will immediately be charged £160.
Fines per parent will be limited to two fines within three years and once that limit is reached, the Department for Education says a parenting order or prosecution will be considered.
If you go to court because your child has not been to school, you could be fined up to £2,500 and this fine could appear on a parent’s future DBS certificate because ‘a child’s education has not been secured’.
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