School absence penalty notices: Frequently asked questions

Yes. Each and all parents of a child may be served a penalty notice for not ensuring their regular attendance at school. Each penalty notice is individually issued per parent, per child and all must be paid to avoid prosecution.

The expression ‘parent’, in relation to a child or young person, includes any person who is not a parent of the child but who has parental responsibility for him or her, or who has care of the child, that is, lives with and has day to day contact with the child. Therefore, the penalty notices have been issued appropriately and each is valid.

Yes. As above all parents may be served a penalty notice for not ensuring their regular attendance at school and the expression ‘parent’, in relation to a child or young person, includes any person who is not a parent of the child but who has parental responsibility for him or her, or who has care of the child. This means a number of people may be liable for a penalty notice.

As explained above, the expression ‘parent’, in relation to a child or young person, includes any person who is not a parent of the child but who has parental responsibility for him or her, or who has care of the child, that is, lives with and has day to day contact with the child.

You have received the penalty notice because you have been determined as a parent under the Education Act in respect of the child.

No, there is no statutory right of appeal for a penalty notice and any absence must be authorised prior to the absence commencing.

Only a school can determine whether an absence is authorised or not, based on the information it knows pertaining to the absence, and adhering to policy, legislation and statutory guidance provided by the Department for Education.

If you believe you have medical evidence that would support your child’s absences then please raise this with the school directly. Should the school then decide that it can authorise the absences in accordance with the law and their policy, then the school must notify Devon County Council of this fact.

The Penalty Notice and Legal Proceedings Team cannot answer questions regarding the school’s decision-making processes – any such enquiries will be directed back to the school.

The Penalty Notice Regulations do not allow for the payment timescales to be delayed or extended. As the penalty notice has already been issued, whilst you pursue the matter, you would still be required to pay the penalty notice within the specified timescales to avoid being taken to court.

If you believe that the Penalty Notice contains a material error, you must not ignore it as you will still be liable. You should contact the Penalty Notice and Legal Proceedings Team as soon as possible, who will be able to investigate the matter and advise as to whether or not it will be withdrawn or reissued (or both), and if you will still need to pay.

Schools are required to show Devon County Council a period before the absence, the dates of the absence and then a period after the absence. This is to evidence the child has not attended regularly between these dates. The dates of absence will be between these dates. The Penalty Notice and Legal Proceedings Team will be able to tell you the exact dates of absence, should you require this.

In 2017, the Supreme Court defined regular as ‘in accordance with the school rules’. This means that school attendance is required as arriving at school on time and on every occasion that the school is open to pupils.

Details of how to pay a school absence penalty notice.

You will need to go to pay a school absence penalty notice and follow the prompt to take you to the DCC payment site. You will need the penalty notice as you will be asked for the school absence penalty notice number – this is a unique nine-digit number.

Each penalty notice will have a different nine-digit number. You will also need the legal forename and date of birth of the child you wish to make a payment for.

Once on the DCC payment website you will be required to enter your nine-digit number. It will then be confirmed which penalty notice number you are paying and how much is due, you will then need to input the legal forename (please ensure no space is put after the child’s name) and date of birth of the child (in the format DD/MM/YYYY).

You will then be asked to input your card details, again the penalty notice number and amount due is shown on the screen. You will then need to input your address, then you will be asked to confirm that you wish to make this payment. You may be asked to verify the transaction. If payment has been success you will be given a payment reference number.

You will need to call 0300 4560534 and follow the prompts given by the automated voice. You will need the penalty notice as you will be asked for the school absence penalty notice number, this is a unique nine-digit number. Each penalty notice will have a different nine-digit number.

You will then be asked to enter the amount you need to pay. Please ensure you are paying the correct amount that is due on that date.

On completion of the transaction, you will be given issued with a payment reference number. Please have some pen and paper ready to a note of this, as this may be needed for any future correspondence.

The Legal Proceedings Officer will send you a receipt letter saying that your payment has been received. But please call the team to check this.

You must write your name and the pupil’s name on the back of your postal order. If we cannot identify who has paid and which pupil the payment relates to, the offence will not be discharged, and you will be taken to court. You may find it more convenient to pay online. You will need your penalty notice as you will be asked for the school absence penalty notice number.

You can still pay by post, please write your name and the pupil name that the penalty notice relates to on the back of the postal order. You can call 01392 383189 if you require assistance.

You can use one postal order to pay more than one penalty notice, just make sure you include information with the payment that tells us which penalty notices you are paying.

The penalty notice regulations do not allow for part payments and penalties should be paid in full within the specified deadlines on the penalty notice.

The Penalty Notice Regulations do not allow for any payments to be made after the specified deadlines. If no payment has been received, further correspondence regarding court proceedings will be issued.

In some instances, attendance at court may not be necessary; the court paperwork you receive will explain the procedures and what to do next.

Yes. You are responsible for the penalty notice issued to you. If the penalty is not paid for any reason, the case will still be listed for prosecution. Relying on someone else to pay your penalty is not an available defence in court.

If you have received a court summons but believe you have paid the penalty, you must contact the Penalty Notice and Legal Proceedings Team as soon as possible, who will then investigate the matter.

If it is found that the court summons has been issued incorrectly, Devon County Council will write to you to inform you of their decision to withdraw legal proceedings. They will also inform the courts of this decision.

Yes, you are required to attend. If you cannot attend, you must contact the local court to give your reasons. The courts may require medical evidence if your absence is due to a health condition, this could in the form of a letter from your doctor stating you are ‘medically unfit to attend court’.

In some cases, you may be allowed to write to the court with your plea and any mitigation circumstances you want the court to hear in your absence.

No. Your case has been listed under the Single Justice Route. This route is used more commonly for the non-imprisonable offences.

You will need to respond to the court with the reply pack included in your bundle. This will need to be sent to Portsmouth Magistrates Court within 21 days of receiving the court pack.

You do have the option to have your case heard in a local court. The case will still be heard in Portsmouth but will then be adjourned to a local court for another date.