Fixed Penalty Notice Informaton


Lliswerry Cluster Information on Fixed Penalty Notices linked to unauthorised absence:

Following Welsh Government Legislation, Newport City Council has adopted a Code of Conduct which allows the Local Authority to issue Fixed Penalty Notices to the parents of pupils who miss five school days or ten school sessions which are unauthorised.

Please note that protocols and procedures in relation to Fixed Penalty Notices will be enforced from January 1st 2016.

Issue of a Fixed Penalty Notice

  • A Fixed Penalty Notice can only be issued in cases of unauthorised absence;
  • Fixed Penalty Notices will be restricted to one notice per parent of a pupil in an academic year;
  • In cases where there is more than one poorly-attending pupil in a family, Notices may be issued for more than one child;
  • There will be no restriction on the number of times a parent may receive a formal warning of a possible Fixed Penalty Notice.

Fixed Penalty Notices may be considered appropriate when:

  • At least 10 sessions (5 school days) are lost due to unauthorised absence during the current term. These do not need to be consecutive;
  • Persistent late arrival at school, i.e. after the register has closed, in the current term. Persistent" means at least 10 sessions of late arrival;
  • Truancy, where the child has come to the attention of the Police or public during school hours for being absent from school, without an acceptable reason.

Fixed Penalty Notices are currently set at 60 and must be paid within 28 days. Non-payment within this timeframe results in a total Penalty of 120. Non-payment of fines will result in prosecution.

Unauthorised absences are those which the Local Authority does not consider reasonable and for which no leave of absence has been agreed by the school. These include:

Holidays during school time

Parents keeping children off school unnecessarily, e.g. for company, shopping, birthdays,

hair appointments, dancing shows, looking after other children etc.

Truancy before or during the school day

Absences which have never been properly explained

Children who arrive at school too late to receive a mark i.e. after the register has closed.