Education welfare service - penalty notice code of conduct

1. Rationale

1.1 Regular and punctual attendance of pupils at school is both a legal requirement and essential for pupils to maximise the educational opportunities available to them. The Wiltshire Education Welfare Service will continue to investigate cases of irregular attendance from school and following appropriate casework, instigate legal action if appropriate. However, Penalty Notices offer a means of swift intervention which the County Council will use to deal with issues of truancy before they become entrenched.

1.2 Through section 444A and section 444B of the Education Act 1996, it has become possible that certain cases of unauthorised absence can be dealt with by way of a Penalty Notice. Penalty Notices will require the parent of a child of compulsory school age, whose attendance has been unsatisfactory, to pay a penalty, currently £50.00 if paid within 28 days or £100.00 if paid within 42 days.

1.3 In order to comply with Human Rights legislation, it is essential that Penalty Notices be issued in a consistent manner throughout Wiltshire. This Code of Conduct will govern the issuing of Penalty Notices for Wiltshire County Council.

2. Procedure for issuing Penalty Notices

2.1 In Wiltshire, Penalty Notices will be issued by the Education Welfare Service, by post, following authorisation by a senior member of the Education Welfare Service. The Service will ensure that the issuing of Penalty Notices is closely monitored with recipients pay the relevant penalty. In any case where the penalty is not paid within the appropriate period and where withdrawal of the Penalty Notice is not appropriate, the Education Welfare Service will instigate action through the courts as required by legislation. Prosecution in such cases would be for the offence to which the Penalty Notice relates.

2.2 No one parent will receive more than three separate Penalty Notices resulting from the unauthorised absence of an individual child in any twelve month period.

2.3 Any Penalty Notice issued must be addressed to one parent but a Penalty Notice may be issued to each parent liable for the offence or offences.

2.4 An authorised officer has discretion when deciding whether to issue a Penalty Notice to one or more parents of a child. The specific circumstances in each individual case will be the determining factor.

2.5 The Education Welfare Service will receive requests to issue Penalty Notices from schools/colleges in Wiltshire, the Wiltshire Constabulary and neighbouring LEAs. The Education Welfare Service will action these requests providing that:

  • The circumstances of the case meet the criteria for the issue of a Penalty Notice as specified in this Code of Conduct, and
  • All necessary information is provided to the Education Welfare Service in order to establish that an offence, under section 444(1) of the Education Act 1996 for truancy or section 103(3) of the Education and Inspections Act 2006 for exclusion, or section 444A or section444B has been committed.

3. General criteria for the issuing of a Penalty Notice

3.1 A Penalty Notice for truancy will only be issued to a parent/carer if the pupil has at least ten sessions (5 school days) lost to unauthorised absence recorded within the previous six months.

3.2 Other than in exceptional circumstances, the issue of a Penalty Notice for truancy will be preceded by the dispatch of a formal warning letter to the parent/carer. This letter will:

  • raise concern regarding the level of the unauthorised absence and giving advice regarding contact with the school and the Education Welfare Service
  • advise the parent of the powers of the LA to issue Penalty Notices
  • state the record of unauthorised absences which give rise to the formal warning, and
  • notify the parent that continued unauthorised absence may lead to the issue of a Penalty Notice if no improvement is effected within an agreed period (normally 15 days except where exceptional circumstances apply, for example, deliberate parentally condoned unauthorised absence) or where a pupil has been caught on a truancy sweep and at least one previous sweep team contact with that pupil or pupil and parent has occurred and when the absence was found to be unauthorised (in addition to the 10 sessions lost criteria);
  • notify the parent of child who has been stopped by the Police during school time other than on an organised truancy sweep and has 10 or more unauthorised absences that if their child is stopped on a future occasion, the Police will request the LA that a Penalty Notice be issued

In the case of a looked after child, a copy of the warning letter must also be sent to the child’s social worker.

When a young person is stopped by the Police, during school time, outside of a truancy sweep and it is established that the young person has 10 or more unauthorised absences, then a Penalty Notice warning letter will be sent to the parent(s).

The Education Welfare Service will maintain a record of all such letters sent in any period.

3.3 In respect of a Penalty Notice issued exclusively for unauthorised holiday in term time, that the school advises parents/carers in advance, of the powers of the LA to issue a Penalty Notice in these circumstances.

3.4 A Penalty Notice for exclusion will only be issued in accordance with sections 103 and 104 of the Education and Inspections Action 2006 ie if a pupil of compulsory school age has been excluded on disciplinary grounds from a relevant school, whether for a fixed period or permanently and notice has been given to a parent of the pupil.

3.5 Within this Code of Conduct, a parent is defined as set in Section 576 Education Act 1996.

4. Circumstances when Penalty Notices will be issued.

Within Wiltshire, the issuing of Penalty Notices is considered appropriate:

4.1 In the early stages of casework, an Education Welfare Officer might form an opinion that the issuing of a Penalty Notice is appropriate eg in cases where a parent continually fails to provide an explanation for a pupil’s absence in accordance with the school’s procedures.

4.2 For pupils stopped during truancy sweeps or by the Police for truancy, but only after due consideration of the minimum evidential requirements have been met as agreed within the Code of Conduct and not as an on-the-spot action. The evidential requirement for Penalty Notices for pupils caught on truancy sweeps or for truancy outside of an organised sweep, will include at least one previous contact with that pupil or pupil and parent and when the school register was found not to be marked as authorised (in addition to the 10 sessions lost criteria).

4.3 Following notification from a school to the LA that a pupil has had a record of unauthorised absence from school and the circumstances appear to have been avoidable (for example: too tired after a late night, a birthday treat, family friends/relatives visiting, shopping).

4.4 Following notification from a school to the Local Authority that a parental request for a holiday in term time has not been authorised and is for a period of 10 or more sessions, continuous or aggregated within the previous six months within the current academic year.

4.5 When a pupil on the ‘Fast-track to Prosecution’ scheme fails to achieve the required improvement in attendance.

4.6 Following a referral from the Wiltshire Constabulary or neighbouring LA.

4.7 For pupils who are stopped by the Police in a public place during the first five school days of an Exclusion, whether for fixed period or permanently from school or, where that exclusion is for a fixed period of five days or less, any of the school days to which the exclusion relates as specified in section 103(2) of the Education and Inspections Act 2006 and is stated in the notice under section 104 to be a day on which the parent is subject to this subsection.

Within this Code of Conduct, a parent is defined as per Section 576 Education Act 1996.

Procedure for withdrawing Penalty Notices

A Penalty Notice may be withdrawn by Wiltshire LA in any case in which the authority determines that:

  1. it ought not to have been issued, or
  2. it ought not to have been issued to the person named as the recipient

Where a Penalty Notice has been withdrawn in accordance with the above, a notice of the withdrawal shall be given to the recipient and any amount paid by way of penalty in pursuance of that notice shall be repaid to the person who paid it. No proceedings shall be continued or instituted against the recipient for the offence in connection with which the withdrawn notice was issued or for an offence under s.444(1A) of the Education Act 1996 arising out of the same circumstances.

Payment of Penalty Notices

The arrangements for the paying of penalties will be detailed on the Penalty Notices.

Carolyn Godfrey, Director for Children & Education

Last updated: 23 October 2009