THE NUMBER of fines issued to Wiltshire parents for taking their children out of school has dropped.

Fewer fines were made last year with 1,629 being issued.

This is a 12.7 per cent drop on the previous year's 1,866.

Wiltshire's record shows the second biggest decrease for unitary authorities in the country, behind Torbay in Devon.

But the drop in figures has also meant a drop in revenue.

Money going into County Hall fell from £87,900 to £79,920.

The sharpest increase in issued penalty notices is in Gloucestershire, followed by Norfolk and then Devon.

But Swindon bucks the trend in Wiltshire with the number of fines issued to Swindon parents for taking their children out of school rising sharply.

Last year Swindon Borough Council sent 1,882 fixed penalty notices to families for unauthorised absences, compared to 1736 in 2017/18 – a nine per cent increase.

It also made more money from the fines, £98,770 compared to £73,500 the previous year.

This represents a hike of 34 per cent.

But Swindon’s increase is a long way from the highest rise, with Cornwall’s nearly quadrupling.

Fines issued by Swindon Borough Council start at £60 per child per unauthorised absence. Parents have 28 days in which to pay, but if they don’t do so within the first three weeks, the fine doubles to £120 per child’s absence

The company behind the research, The Knowledge Academy, believes the fact cut-price holidays are on offer for families during term time is a prime reason behind the increase

Swindon’s parents would run the risk of paying a fine if it meant saving a lot of money on their summer holiday.

Ridgeway headteacher James Povoas, the chair of the Swindon Association of Secondary Headteachers agreed fines were issued mainly for parents taking their children for a holiday in term time, with about a fifth of cases being unauthorised absences for other family occasions.

Mr Povoas said: “When it comes to holidays, some parents feel the saving in the cost of the holiday might be worth the small fine from the local authority.

“But if parents are wanting to take a child to a family funeral, for example, that can be quite difficult, if they want to add more time on."