A MAN who refused to pay a fine for taking his six-year-old daughter on a family trip to Florida during term-time has won a ruling in his favour at the High Court in London.
Jon Platt, who is originally from Northern Ireland, was fined by Isle of Wight Council after he took his family on the holiday, which included a visit to Walt Disney World, without permission from his child's school.
He was originally fined £60. This was then doubled because of his refusal to pay.
The dispute went before Isle of Wight Magistrates' Court in October when Mr Platt won the case. But the local authority appealed against the decision at the High Court in London.
Lord Justice Lloyd Jones and Mrs Justice Thirlwall dismissed the council's challenge, ruling that the magistrates had not "erred in law" when reaching their decision.
The availability of cheap holiday deals or taking time off during term to compensate for poor weather during school holidays would be categorised as unauthorised absences.
After yesterday's ruling, Mr Platt said: "I am obviously hugely relieved. I know that there was an awful lot riding on this - not just for me but for hundreds of other parents."
The magistrates decided Mr Platt had "no case to answer" because no evidence had been produced to prove that his daughter - who is now aged seven and can only be referred to as M for legal reasons - had failed to attend school "regularly".
The two High Court judges ruled that the magistrates were entitled to take into account the "wider picture" of the child's attendance record outside of the dates she was absent during the holiday.
Mark Jackson, appearing for the local authority, had argued that parents "cannot simply take their children out of school to take them on holiday, or for any other unauthorised reason".
The policy of M's school made it clear that holidays in term time "would not be authorised", said Mr Jackson.
He argued the magistrates should not simply have asked themselves "had the child attended school regularly" but whether she had attended regularly "during the period identified in the summons - 13-21 April 2015".
That was the period when she had been on holiday with her family and her attendance rate was "0 per cent".
Rejecting the submission, Lord Justice Lloyd Jones said: "I do not consider it is open to an authority to criminalise every unauthorised holiday by the simple device of alleging that there has been no regular attendance in a period limited to the absence on holiday."
The school's attendance register showed that M had an attendance rate of 92.35 per cent.
The judge said: "I consider the magistrates correctly had regard to the wider picture.
"In all the circumstances of this case I am unable to say their conclusion was not one reasonably open to them."
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WHILE school pupils in Northern Ireland miss thousands of days due to term-term holidays, a similar court action is unlikely.
In England, parents who take their children out of school without permission during term-time can incur fines of £60 per pupil, per period of absence - which rises to £120 if not paid within 21 days.
There is no similar arrangement in the north.
Latest figures for Northern Ireland show that there were more than one and a half million unauthorised absences between 2013/14 and 2014/15. Attendance or absence is measured for every pupil in half-day sessions - morning and afternoon.
It is only under "very exceptional circumstances" that schools can authorise a family holiday. These may include a vacation that is important to the well-being and cohesion of the family.
Last year, family holidays that were not agreed accounted for 8.1 per cent of the unauthorised absences at primary school.
However, a young person will only be referred to the Education Welfare Service (EWS) if they miss 15 per cent - about 30 days - of any one academic year.
Cases referred to the EWS typically will result in a parental fine or Education Supervision Order but these figures continue to be small in number.
