Abstract

In 2013, changes to the regulations regarding school absences meant that head teachers could no longer authorise term-time holidays. As a consequence of this parents who wish to take their children on holiday during term-time are now liable for a fixed penalty notice. This policy has been the subject of a number of legal challenges most notably in a case heard by the UK Supreme Court in 2017 which upheld local authorities’ power to impose fines for term-time holidays. This article examines the legal and political arguments around the extension of penalty notices for term-time holidays. It reviews the various challenges to the policy, focusing on the Supreme Court judgment. The article goes on to make an alternative case for review of this policy based on the manner in which the regulations were changed, arguing that the Secretary of State for Education exceeded his powers by changing attendance regulations without parliamentary approval and in a way that parliament had not intended when legislation governing the use of penalty notices was passed in 2003.