Commenting as the government announce new regulations for schools and increased fines for parents as part of their renewed attendance drive, Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said:

“A consistent national framework for fines makes sense. Currently there is significant variation between how and when local authorities issue fines to parents.

“However, parents will likely be surprised that at a time when schools are struggling to find enough teachers to teach classes, when buildings are crumbling, and when we are in the middle of a crisis in special needs provision, that the government is choosing to focus on increasing fines for parents.

“Good attendance is obviously critically important, but fines have long proven to be too blunt a tool and largely ineffective at improving persistent absence.

“What is really needed to tackle poor attendance is more targeted resources to find out the reasons behind absence, including support for vulnerable families and for children and young people’s mental health. Without that work, higher fines could just be further punishing already struggling families and children.

“When it comes to schools sharing attendance data, it is important to remember that the overwhelming majority of schools already do this. It will be important for the government to ensure that where schools are not already doing so they understand the reasons behind that, including any technological barriers schools might be facing.”