The Ministry of Justice collects data for England and Wales on prosecutions brought against parents under the Education Act 1996 for the offence under s444(1) of failing to secure their child’s regular attendance at school; and for prosecutions under s444(1A), the aggravated offence of knowing that their child is failing to attend school regularly. It is possible, because of the way courts record data that some data is collected under the more general heading of various offences under the Education Act 1996.
The information on the number of parents sentenced and given fines in the Greater Manchester area is detailed in the table. The data for 2008 will be published this autumn. The Ministry of Justice only collects information on sentencing based on police force regions.
The Department also collects and publishes data on penalty notices (fines) issued by local authorities in England to parents for not securing their child’s regular attendance at school. The figures for the last four years for each local authority in the Greater Manchester region are detailed in the following table.
Detail Fined 2003 Parent failing to secure their child’s regular attendance at school 155 Parent knowing that their child is failing to attend school regularly without reasonable justification to cause him or her to attend school 3 2004 Parent failing to secure their child’s regular attendance at school 154 Parent knowing that their child is failing to attend school regularly without reasonable justification to cause him or her to attend school 24 2005 Parent failing to secure their child’s regular attendance at school 176 Parent knowing that their child is failing to attend school regularly without reasonable justification to cause him or her to attend school 58 2006 Parent failing to secure their child’s regular attendance at school 492 Parent knowing that their child is failing to attend school regularly without reasonable justification to cause him or her to attend school 51 2007 Parent failing to secure their child’s regular attendance at school 481 Parent knowing that their child is failing to attend school regularly without reasonable justification to cause him or her to attend school 105 1 These data are extracted on the principal offence basis. Note: These figures have been drawn from administrative data systems. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. Source: QMS Analytical Services, Ministry of Justice
Number of PNs for unauthorised absence over: Bolton Bury Manchester Oldham Rochdale Salford Stockport Tameside Trafford Wigan 2004/05 4 53 271 31 0 2 40 6 0 37 2005/06 295 61 118 88 27 416 320 90 8 113 2006/07 228 61 195 80 97 508 329 0 9 198 2007/08 198 106 278 124 211 242 154 30 34 202 Source: Department for Children, Schools and Families data March 2009