Don't let your kids bunk off school, county warns

In the past three months a total of 59 prosecutions were brought by the county council's education welfare service as part of its on-going drive to improve school attendance and hold parents to account.

During January, February and March cases at Eastbourne, Hastings and Lewes Magistrates Courts saw parents fined a total of 3,360 with 3,385 costs.

In Eastbourne 22 cases were heard by the Magistrates Court, resulting in a total of 800 in fines and 1,280 in costs. Prosecuted for the third time, a parent whose daughter attended just 64% of sessions between July 2007 and January this year was given a suspended eight week custodial sentence along with an unpaid work requirement of 80 hours.

Fines totalling 2,310 with 1,805 in costs were given to parents in 36 cases brought before Hastings Magistrates. A parent whose daughter had failed to attend school and whose son had only attended 2% of sessions between February and June 2007 pleaded guilty and received a community order and a curfew requirement for four months.

At Lewes Magistrates Court two prosecutions led to fines totalling 250 and costs of 300. In one case a parent whose daughter only attended 20% of sessions between February and July 2007 received a 16-month conditional discharge and was ordered to pay 100 costs.

The cases were brought by education welfare officers who work hard to support, help and advise parents if they are having difficulty with their child's attendance.

Councillor Rupert Simmons, county cabinet lead member for learning and school effectiveness, said: "Clearly prosecuting parents is a last resort. Every effort is made by our education welfare officers to support and help parents and work with the young people concerned to tackle the problem of their continued absence from school.

"It is vitally important for their future opportunities and for them to fulfil their potential for children to attend school and of course the vast majority of parents recognise that. But in the small minority of cases where parents ignore the problem and refuse to work with us to resolve it, we will use the courts."