Parliament will debate school absence rules after mum's campaign

MPS will debate unauthorised school absence fines after a campaign launched by a Derbyshire mum gathered more than 180,000 signatures.

- By EDDIE BISKNELL

Marehay mum-of-two Natalie Elliott, who launched the Fight School Fines campaign, is pushing the Government to allow parents to have 10 days of term time leave without a fine.

After her campaign gathered 181,000 signatures, MPs will now debate the issue in Parliament on Monday, October 27.

Ms Elliott says the current system "criminalises parents" and puts attendance ahead of wellbeing.

She claims some parents have told her they have received unauthorised school absence fines for family funerals, mental health issues and to visit poorly family members.

Ms Elliott says there is inconsistency in the issuing of fines between schools, with a more common sense approach required to differentiate between people who are not taking advantage and have genuine absence reasons.

It is head teachers who decide who gets fines and these are then administered by Derbyshire County Council and Derby City Council respectively.

Ms Elliott told the Derby Telegraph: "I'm really pleased that the debate is finally going ahead.

"I'm really hoping that enough MPs attend this debate and be our voices because there is so much that needs to be discussed.

"Since starting this campaign, we have discovered that a large number of schools are marking the register incorrectly.

"A lot of absences due to mental health are marked as unauthorised and families are being forced into finding evidence, even though the school is fully aware of the situation.