IT WAS revealed this week more than £81,000 worth of school-truanting fines were issued by both Reading and Bracknell councils, in the space of two years.

From 2017 to 2019, Reading Borough Council forced parents and carers across the county to cough up a total of more than £37,000 for children found to be missing classes without a good reason.

In total, 746 'fixed penalty notices' were issued by Reading council across the two years, with statistics showing that 94 per cent of parents were fined for 'unauthorised leave in term time, e.g. being taken out of school for holiday’.

The other six per cent of cases were for ‘general unauthorised absence/truancy, including parentally condoned absence’.

READ MORE: Parents in Reading paid £37,000 in school fines for unauthorised holidays and truanting

Similarly, Bracknell Forest Council issued more than £44,000 worth of fixed penalty notices, equating to 744 notices being sent from 2017 to 2019.

These were issued for similar reasons, such as unauthorised leave in term time, as well as general unauthorised abscense and truancy.

READ MORE: Parents in Bracknell Forest paid £44,000 in school fines

A full table of fines issued across Berkshire can be seen here:

Reading Chronicle:

 

Let us know what your thoughts are on the council fining parents for truanting students in our poll below: