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Written question asked by Claire Young (Liberal Democrat) on Thursday, 29 January 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 4 February 2026 (named day). It was answered by Olivia Bailey (Labour) on Monday, 23 February 2026 on behalf of the Department for Education.

Truancy: Prosecutions

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many parents have been prosecuted for their child's non-attendance at school in each quarter of the last five years.

Answer

The department does not hold data on the total number of parents that have been prosecuted for their child’s non-attendance as this is a matter for the courts. However, our statutory guidance is clear that schools should take a ‘support first’ approach to pupils’ attendance and prosecutions should only be used as a last resort, where all other routes have been exhausted or deemed inappropriate in the circumstances of the individual case.

A new national framework for penalty notices came into effect from August 2024 designed to embed our support-first approach and improve consistency and fairness across the country. Data collected by the department from the first year of the new framework (the 2024/25 academic year) shows 148 cases reported where a parent was prosecuted due to reaching the limit of two penalty notices within three years. Comprehensive data on prosecution offences is collected by the Ministry of Justice.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
109664
Session
2024-26
Subjects
Prosecutions Truancy
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk