The Department keeps the motoring offences framework under review. Our consultation on proposed changes to penalties for motoring offences closed on 11 May 2026. Although it did not specifically seek views on income-related speeding penalties, respondents could raise wider matters for consideration. We are analysing the responses.

In the 2024/2025 academic year, 93% of penalty notices were issued for unauthorised family holidays. This is an increase of 4% compared to the previous year.

A further 0.3% were issued for lateness and the remaining 7% for other unauthorised circumstances.

This distribution is in line with the government‘s requirement that penalty notices should only be issued for unauthorised absences and only where support has been ineffective, not engaged with or would be inappropriate. Penalty notices must be considered on an individual basis and schools must not have blanket rules. All schools have the discretion to grant leave of absence in exceptional circumstances, allowing the leave to be authorised and not fined.

The department does not collect data on the support interventions undertaken before individual penalty notices are issued.

The government’s approach is that schools and local authorities should work with families to understand and address the barriers to attendance before considering legal intervention.

Statutory guidance makes clear that a penalty notice should normally be considered only where support has not worked, has not been engaged with or is not appropriate, as is usually the case for an unauthorised term-time holiday. Such holidays accounted for 93% of penalty notices in the latest year for which data are available.

The causes of school absence are complex and penalty notices are one part of a wider toolkit to help ensure children receive the education they are entitled to. The government remains committed to a support-first approach, with enforcement only used in cases where support is not appropriate, has not been engaged with or is not proving effective.

Recent data suggests this approach is having a positive impact. In the 2024/2025 academic year, the rate of absence due to unauthorised holidays fell from 0.53% to 0.48%, equating to around 1.3 million fewer missed sessions compared with 2023/2024. Penalty notices are primarily targeted at term-time holidays, which accounted for 93% of notices issued in 2024/2025.

The causes of school absence are complex, and penalty notices are one part of a wider toolkit to help ensure children receive the education they are entitled to. The government remains committed to a support- first approach, with enforcement only used where support is not appropriate, has not been engaged with, or is not proving effective.

Recent data suggests this approach is having a positive impact. In 2024 to 2025, the rate of absence due to unauthorised holidays fell from 0.53% to 0.48%, equating to around 1.3 million fewer missed sessions compared with 2023 to 2024. Penalty notices are primarily targeted at term-time holidays, which accounted for 93% of notices issued in 2024 to 2025.

The Government recognises the impact of number plate crime and is committed to addressing this issue. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) works closely with police forces and the National Police Chiefs’ Council to improve the identification and enforcement of number plate crime.

As part of its Road Safety Strategy published on 7 January 2026, the Government has sought views on the introduction of penalty points and vehicle seizure for the offence of being in charge of a motor vehicle with an incorrect, altered or false number plate. The consultation closed on 11 May and responses are being considered.

The DVLA is also considering options to ensure a more robust, auditable Register of Number Plate Supplier process, which would enable tighter checks on number plate suppliers and the plates they supply. Options being considered include reviewing fees, scheme structure, resources and funding.

The DVLA uses its social media pages to warn the public of the importance of only buying number plates from a registered supplier and on gov.uk contains information that advises drivers where their nearest suppliers are and what they need to do to purchase new plates.

The Home Office is responsible for police funding. The DVLA offers support and training for police forces on the illegal display and supply of number plates.

For unauthorised school absences during the 2024/25 academic year, Bath and North East Somerset issued 1,014 penalty notices and South Gloucestershire issued 2,043 penalty notices.

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.

Our statutory guidance on attendance makes clear that legal intervention, including prosecution, should only be considered where support has been exhausted, not engaged with or, in the cases of term-time holidays, is not appropriate. The guidance sets out clear expectations on how schools, local authorities and wider services should work together to support attendance for all children.

Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) are matters for the Home Office. They do not however hold information on the number of FPNs issued for cycling on the footway.

The Department for Transport does not hold the information requested.

The Home Office collects and publishes the relevant data on fixed penalty notices and other outcomes for motoring offences, including seat belt offences, for police forces in England and Wales.

The latest data can be found here: Police powers and procedures: Roads policing, to December 2024.

Data on fixed penalty notices issued for seat belt offences by year are published in table FPN_03 of the accompanying data tables.

The Department for Transport does not hold the information requested.

Fixed penalty notices are a matter for the Home Office. The Home Office publishes statistics on fixed penalty notices and other outcomes for motoring offences as part of its Police powers and procedures England and Wales statistics. The latest data can be found in the Home Office publication Police powers and procedures: Roads policing, to December 2024. The accompanying fixed penalty notices and other outcomes data tables include breakdowns by offence type and year, including offences relating to the use of a hand-held mobile phone while driving.

The Ministry of Justice publishes data on prosecutions at criminal courts, including motoring offences, as part of its Criminal Justice System statistics quarterly series. The latest data can be found here: Criminal Justice Statistics Quarterly: December 2025 - GOV.UK. Prosecution data by offence are published in the accompanying all-offences prosecutions and convictions data tool and outcomes by offence data tools.

The Department for Transport does not hold the information requested.

Fixed penalty notices are a matter for the Home Office. The Home Office publishes statistics on fixed penalty notices and other outcomes for motoring offences as part of its Police powers and procedures England and Wales statistics. The latest data can be found in the Home Office publication Police powers and procedures: Roads policing, to December 2024. The accompanying fixed penalty notices and other outcomes data tables include breakdowns by offence type and year, including offences relating to the use of a hand-held mobile phone while driving.

The Ministry of Justice publishes data on prosecutions at criminal courts, including motoring offences, as part of its Criminal Justice System statistics quarterly series. The latest data can be found here: Criminal Justice Statistics Quarterly: December 2025 - GOV.UK. Prosecution data by offence are published in the accompanying all-offences prosecutions and convictions data tool and outcomes by offence data tools.