Cheshire West and Chester Council

1. A Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) can only be issued in cases of unauthorised absence.

2. The first penalty notice issued to the parent for that pupil will be charged at £160 if paid within 28 days reducing to £80 if paid within 21 days.

3. Where it is deemed appropriate to issue a second penalty notice to the same parent for the same pupil within 3 years of the first notice, the second notice is charged at a flat rate of £160 if paid within 28 days.

4. A third penalty notice must not be issued within a 3 year period. Therefore, in cases where the threshold is met for a third (or subsequent) times within those 3 years, a penalty notice cannot be issued and alternative action should be taken instead. This will often include considering prosecution, but may include other tools such as one of the other attendance legal interventions.

5. A FPN may be issued per parent per child.

6. Penalty Notices may be considered appropriate if:

·       Unauthorised absences of at least 10 consecutive school sessions (five school days).

·       Sessions either side of a weekend or school holiday will be counted as consecutive school days.

·       For poorly attending learners, at least 10 sessions (five school days) lost due to unauthorised absence during a school term.

These do not need to be consecutive.

·       For poorly attending learners, persistent late arrive at school in a term. Persistent means at least 10 sessions of late arrival.

·       The presence of an excluded child in a public place in the child’s first five days of exclusion (N.B. points 2 to 4 do not apply where a FPN is issued for an excluded pupil in a public place.)

7. The school must notify parents of the Attendance Policy and clearly state that parents may receive an FPN for an unauthorised leave of absence relating to holiday in term time.

8. Schools and the Education Welfare Services will take into account any exceptional circumstances when determining whether to issue a FPN.