MPs to debate school fines after a campaign launched by Derbyshire mum

MPs will debate unauthorised school absence fines after a campaign launched by a Derbyshire mum gathered more than 180,000 signatures.

Marehay mum-of-two Natalie Elliott, who launched the Fight School Fines campaign, is pushing the Government to allow parents to have 10 days of term time leave without a fine. 

After her campaign gathered 181,000 signatures, MPs will now debate the issue in Parliament on Monday, October 27. 

Ms Elliott says the current system “criminalises parents” and puts attendance ahead of wellbeing. She claims some parents have told her they have received unauthorised school absence fines for family funerals, mental health issues and to visit poorly family members. 

Ms Elliott says there is inconsistency in the issuing of fines between schools, with a more common sense approach required to differentiate between people who are not taking advantage and have genuine absence reasons. 

It is headteachers who decide who gets fines and these are then administered by Derbyshire County Council and Derby City Council respectively. 

Ms Elliott told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “I’m really pleased that the debate is finally going ahead. I’m really hoping that enough MPs attend this debate and be our voices because there is so much that needs to be discussed. Since starting this campaign, we have discovered that a large number of schools are marking the register incorrectly.  

“A lot of absences due to mental health are marked as unauthorised and families are being forced into finding evidence, even though the school is fully aware of the situation.  

“Parents are being prosecuted because they are safeguarding their child’s mental health and because schools are deeming this to be unauthorised, the law is stacked against them.  

“One of the statutory defences is ‘genuine illness’, but a lot of the time, getting hold of specific evidence is near-on impossible meaning the courts have no choice but to find parents guilty. 

“The attendance drive from the Department for Education (DfE) is driving a wedge between home and school. It really is attendance before everything else. Some leaders of schools seem to have lost their compassion. A lot of headteachers are using blanket policies of saying no to every request. We’ve seen parents fined for family funerals.  

“In what world are we living in where we think that is OK? How is that going to help a child and their family to increase their attendance? That’s just one example, there’s plenty more.  

“Why is the government prioritising attendance over wellbeing? Bridget Phillipson may well have secured ‘5 million more days in classrooms and 140,000 fewer persistently absent pupils reported as of August 2025’. That has been done through fear, not collaboration. You can try to force a child into the classroom, but you cannot force them to learn. Instead of focusing on statistics, she needs to focus on well-being and encouraging children to love learning.  

“A happy child will learn. A child who hasn’t been given the chance to access quality time due to various factors such as socioeconomic status, family dynamics, SEND, etc, will not learn. Most people can turn up, but it’s what happens once they’ve turned up that matters.  

“Let parents parent. Although the petition is asking for 10 days, the whole legislation needs complete reform. Punishing parents is not the answer, it never has been and it never will be.  

“But here we are, two years later, and criminalising parents is at the top of the agenda. I encourage every parent to write to their MP and ask them to tell their story of how this legislation is not fit for purpose.” 

In the 2023/2024 academic year, the county council issued 10,505 penalties to parents for unauthorised school absences, totalling £554,160. In the past three academic years it has issued 20,487 fines and raised £961,320. Meanwhile, in the last academic year the city council administered 5,024 penalties, raising £261,725, with 10,861 issued in the last three years.

The Department for Education, responding to Ms Elliott’s petition, wrote: “We sympathise with parents who, for a variety of reasons, face barriers to securing their children’s school attendance.  

“The government takes seriously its responsibility to ensure that schools are equipped to meet children’s needs and help them succeed, but that is matched by parents’ legal responsibility to send their children to school every day that they can. 

“Absence is one of the biggest barriers to success for children and young people, and has soared post-pandemic. It is one of the greatest barriers to opportunity and supporting children to achieve.  

“A steady churn of absences disrupts the learning of every child disrupting teachers’ ability to plan and sequence learning. It also has a significant detrimental impact on the hard work of school staff to cultivate a sense of community and belonging. 

“We know that some pupils face more complex barriers to attendance, including some pupils who have long term physical or mental health conditions or who have special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).  

“Separately, we know that young people from disadvantaged backgrounds face a wide range of barriers to engagement with education, including insecure housing, uniform costs, travel costs and food.  

“However, all of these children have the same need and right to a full-time education as any other pupil. 

“Where necessary, it is right that the law protects the child’s right to a full-time education. It is up to local authorities and schools to decide on the best course of action based on the circumstances of the individual case and what is most likely to improve attendance.”