Labour-run Monmouthshire County Council has written to parents threatening the introduction of Fixed Penalty Notices for term-time holidays, which would be totally at odds with their own policy documents, which say FPNs should be the last resort. This threat should be withdrawn.

Parents received the letter on the final day of the school year, informing them that the council would be preparing to introduce fines for unauthorised term-time holidays from the start of the 2026-27 academic year. Yet there has been no public debate about this, no scrutiny by councillors, no consultation with schools, governors or parents and no proposal to change the authority’s longstanding policies in this area. This is not how you make decisions. You have to take parents and the education sector with you and make proper informed decisions.

The council's own Attendance and Engagement Policy is clear. Fixed Penalty Notices are intended to be a last resort after extensive engagement with families and should only be issued in extreme cases.

If Labour councillors really want to pursue changes to the policy to punish families for taking a holiday in term-time, there should be a robust scrutiny of the impact and recognition of the realities facing many working families. Parents employed in sectors such as agriculture, tourism and hospitality often have limited flexibility over when they can take leave. Others face significant financial pressures and find that travelling during school holidays is simply too expensive.

In this day of social media hysteria, some trolls have responded to articles about this saying, well if you don’t support fines, you therefore think kids should be routinely missing school. Of course not. Many issues are rarely this black and white. Attendance is really important, but term-time holidays are not the main reason for absence. Since the pandemic, attitudes have changed around precautions for bugs, colds and mild illnesses, as well as attitudes towards school attendance. In Wales, schools were closed more frequently and for longer than schools in other parts of the UK and that failure to prioritise keeping schools open inevitably has consequences. Instead of this debate, we should be addressing persistent absenteeism from school.

The council should withdraw this threat of Fixed Penalty Notices and pause any plans to introduce them until a proper consultation has taken place. Parents deserve to have their voices heard, schools deserve to be part of the discussion and councillors should speak up for their residents.