But Tories attack bunking tickets as a ‘gimmick’

CAMDEN’S education supremo has defended plans to fine parents whose children miss lessons and turn up late for school.
Labour councillor Nick Smith gave the final green light for education department officials to issue the parking ticket-style fines during a council meeting on Tuesday.
The system – nicknamed Truancy Tickets – will work by hitting the parents of truant children with £50 penalties.
Just like parking tickets, fines could be doubled if families are slow to pay.
The move coincides with an increased police effort to beat the bunkers. Senior officers told a community meeting on Thursday that a dossier of worst-affected schools had been compiled and resources would be targeted strategically.
The names of the schools in the secret file were not disclosed but police insisted they would be working with the council to stop truancy.
Cllr Smith, who is set to quit his role at the department’s helm in September, said the new fines would help in the campaign.
He said: “It’s an important measure which we will use as part of a range of measures to tackle truancy. We have seen improvements in our schools in recent years but we are looking for further improvements still. We want to give children the best start in life and we can only do that if they are in school.”
The education department has added a new clause into its penalty protocol to monitor whether cash-strapped parents struggling financially will be pursued for money.
Cllr Smith added: “The new penalties will only be used when absolutely necessary.”
The final decision to introduce the penalties was taken at a five-minute council meeting in which Cllr Smith was greeted with empty chairs.
As the education chief signed off the all-important protocol, he was joined by just two other people in the committee room: a minute-taking Town Hall clerk and a New Journal reporter.
He said afterwards: “This is a welcome measure which we hope will help to improve attendance.”
But Cllr Smith’s rivals at the Town Hall are not so sure that the new fines will secure improvements.
Tory education spokeswoman Councillor Sheila Gunn said: “I think the fines are gimmicky. The fact they are being introduced ultimately shows that the initiatives to reduce truancy over the last few years have failed. The fines are, however, a short-term gimmick. They do not deal with the fact that one of the biggest problems is that children register in the morning and then leave early and nobody has a clue where they are. I am always surprised at how many children I see on the streets during term-time.”
She added: “One of the problems I have with the fines is that a £50 fine in such a polarised borough can have such a different effect to different families. Some well-off families might see £50 as nothing, while to others £50 can have serious effect on whether they can pay rent or buy food. It is serious.”
Cllr Gunn also questioned whether cash raised by the penalties would be pumped back into improving schools.
Lib Dems, however, are backing the fines.
Councillor John Bryant said yesterday (Wednesday): “This is a suitable halfway house measure to taking parents to court so they don’t get criminal records of their children don’t go to school.
“Camden schools are very good but the weakness is in attendance. There have been some positive strategies. The new strategy will be aimed at a tiny majority of parents who are capable of getting their children to school but can’t be bothered. Instead of using carrot strategies, we need a few more stick strategies. If we didn’t use them then we would be working against the interests of children.”
The fines follow a series of other tactics to stop children skipping school.
These have included regular truancy sweeps on the borough’s streets and cut price holiday deals for parents booking breaks during recognised term-time holidays.