Truancy court appearances fall

The number of parents in Newark and Sherwood summonsed to appear in court because their children had been playing truant has halved in a year.

In the 2011/12 academic year, 18 parents from the district were taken to court because their children were persistently absent from school.

That was a 50% reduction on 2010/11, when 36 parents were summonsed. In 2009/10, there were 35 summons.

There has also been a reduction in the amount of fines handed out. In 2009/10 parents were fined £2,246. In 2010/11 the figure was £1,800, and last year it was £1,560.

The figures mirror county-wide reductions, with the number of summons across Nottinghamshire reducing from 244 in 2010/11 to 121 in 2011/12.

In 2009/10 fines across Nottinghamshire totalled £24,720, and that reduced to £13,227 last year.

The largest individual fines increased from £525 in 2009/10 to £1,065 last year.

Nottinghamshire County Council said it was pleased with the figures and felt it showed a policy of early intervention was working.

The committee chairman for children and young people, Mr Philip Owen, said: “We don’t want to take people to court. That is our last step.

“We are working much closer with families that have had issues with non-attendance at school and therefore we have not had to resort to court action quite as frequently.

“I think these figures justify the approach we have been taking.”

The latest Department for Education figures also show a reduction in pupil absence rates in Nottinghamshire.

In autumn 2011, the latest available, 0.9% of half-days missed were unauthorised absences.

The figure for the same term in 2010-11 was 1.24%, and in 2009-10 1.13%.

Mr Owen said: “I am pleased with the figures, but we want to continue to work to drive them down. If children don’t attend school then they are not learning.

“From a young age this can put them at a serious disadvantage and have a knock-on effect in their later life.”