Yorkshire mother speaks out against fining parents for school absence following son's mental health crisis

Councils have the ability to fine parents for persistent school absences, and can also prosecute.

But campaigners say fines are punitive to parents of children with special educational needs and mental health problems, and should be stopped.

Over 250,000 people have signed the No Schools Fines petition to ask the Government to end prosecutions and school fines, which was handed in following a protest on Tuesday.

Campaigner and author Heidi Waddington, from Outwood, is among those calling for change after her son Theo had a mental health crisis when he was 14 which stopped him being able to attend school.

She said: “It escalated very quickly over about six weeks to full blown panic and anxiety attacks when putting his uniform on.

“He had a period where he wasn’t in school at all - in all, he had about 18 months of non attendance in various guises.

“We went from thinking everything was fine to it clearly not being fine, and we later discovered that was down to the fact he’s autistic and it hadn’t been diagnosed.

“We had multiple professionals say to us that if we didn’t get him into school, we’d be fined.

“Theo had a massive panic attack in a school reception, and one member of staff told him ‘you need to pull yourself together, you don’t want your mum to be sent to prison.’”

Theo has recovered and is now settled on an agricultural course at a North Yorkshire college.

A Government spokesperson said: “Every child deserves to have access to education that meets their needs.

“We work closely with schools, trusts, governing bodies, and local authorities to identify and support pupils who are at risk of becoming, or who are persistently absent and our guidance is clear that fines should only be used as a last resort.

“Our recent Improvement Plan will also reform the support system for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, including prioritising earlier intervention.”