“Can you provide the following information:-
1. How many school absence fines, have been issued per month per school for the last 3 years? (list of school names for each month)
Please see the spreadsheets provided below:-
* Low numbers have been redacted under Section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 – ‘Personal Information’ as we believe that release of this information could lead to the identification of the individuals concerned which would breach the principles of the Data Protection Act 2018 and General Data Protection Regulations.
2. How many of the fines have been paid, how many went to the court and how many were withdrawn (if withdrawn what the reasons for withdrawal)? This information is publicly available, and can be found on the Government website.
3. How many of the fines issued went to parents on some sort of council benefit?
We do not hold this information. Devon County Council does not hold details of parents’ financial backgrounds.
4. What are the proceeds from the fines used for?”
The regulations provide that the Local Authority can retain revenue from their Penalty Notice Scheme to cover the costs of issuing or enforcing notices, or the costs of prosecuting recipients who do not pay. We can confirm that this is how Devon County Council uses the proceeds from the fines.