TORY chiefs yesterday (Wednesday) savaged proposals by the Town Hall to fine parents £50 if their children turn up late for school or miss lessons.
Under new proposals being hammered out by the council’s education department, mothers and fathers will be hit with £50 fines if they are snared in the council’s clampdown on truancy.
Tory Party leader Councillor Piers Wauchope said: “Children who commit truancy often come from the poorest families and are often at their wits end with children out of control.”
Education chiefs says the penalties are aimed at parents who are capable of improving their children’s attendance but do nothing to address the problem.
Failure to pay up within four weeks could lead to the fines being doubled to £100 or a prosecution.
The cash raised will be pumped back into the system to keep the crackdown going.
The new measures will be discussed at a meeting of backbenchers and education supremo Councillor Nick Smith next week as the Town Hall decides how to press ahead with the new sanctions.
In the past, Camden has fast-tracked parents to the Highbury Corner Magistrates Court where fines have been dished out.
But a new council dossier says the action was now considered “expensive, time-consuming and heavy handed for parents who are not hard-core offenders”.
The report, penned by Camden’s acting education director Yvette Stanley, said: “Penalty notices will provide a quicker and cheaper and more effective way of sanctioning those parents who are capable of improving their child’s attendance but where a simple sanction will focus them on their responsibilities.”
Every council must decide how they will issue the penalties – and Camden is at the front of the queue to introduce the new penalties mapped out in the government’s Anti-Social Behaviour Act.
Headteachers and governors are now due to comment on how Camden should shape the policy.
Ms Stanley’s report said possible offences will include:
• pupils taking term-time holidays;
• pupil lateness of over 30 minutes;
• children stopped on truancy patrols.
She added that government legislation insisted that money raised in fines had to be put back into the system.
Ms Stanley’s report added: “Penalty notices can result in a quicker outcome for parents. The poor attendance is dealt with once the penalty is paid and there is no criminal record for the parent.
“If the penalty is not paid, the LEA must either prosecute the parent or withdraw the notice. Prosecution will be for non-attendance, not failing to pay the penalty.”
But Tory party leader Councillor Piers Wauchope said: “These families need support. If the policy is accepted then fixed basis fines are not going to work. They need to be able to fluctuate between parents that are taking the mickey and those whose children are out of control.”
Conservative whip Councillor Andrew Mennear described the policy as a “gimmick”.
He said: “Labour has failed utterly to get to groups with discipline in schools and truancy. These fines are a gimmick and they are really just a distraction away from their failings in education.”
Liberal Democrats have greeted the policy with more warmth. Cllr Margaret Little, the party’s education spokesman, said: “Children should be in school learning. There is almost no excuse that they shouldn’t be where they are supposed to be. These notices will send out a strong message to parents, which is a good thing. I think, however, they will need to be used with discretion.”