Today (Thursday) in the High Court, Lord Justice Lloyd Jones paved the way for the Isle of Wight Council to take the Jon Platt school holiday fines case to the Supreme Court, if it so wishes.
The application relates to the high-profile case which attracted national media attention when last October Isle of Wight Magistrates ruled that Mr Platt had no case to answer for refusing to pay a £120 fine for taking his six year old daughter out of school for a family holiday.
What’s been agreed
At the High Court hearing on 13th May, the judge upheld the Isle of Wight Magistrate’s previous ruling that Jon Platt had no case to answer.
Jon Platt told OnTheWight this morning that the application by the Isle of Wight Council is a two part application:-
- A request for a Certificate that a point of law of general public importance is involved in its decision of the 13th May
- Leave to appeal to the Supreme Court
He adds that the High Court has refused permission to appeal at the High Court, but they have granted the Public Interest Certificate that the council had requested, saying yes, there is a point of law of general public importance.
This gives the Isle of Wight Council the ability to go to the Supreme Court to seek permission to appeal.
Government steps in
Earlier this month the Schools Minister ‘requested’ that the Isle of Wight council seek an Appeal.
The Government agreed to cover the cost of the Appeal and contribute to the council’s previous costs, which amount to around £25,000.
OnTheWight has been in touch with the Isle of Wight council this morning, asking whether they will go ahead with the appeal. We await their response.
John Aston, Law Reporter with Press Association got in touch with OnTheWight this morning confirming the outcome of today’s hearing.
Council statement
This came in from the council at 13:36
High Court grants certificate that point of law of general public importance involved in unauthorised school absence
The High Court has today (Thursday) notified the Isle of Wight Council in relation to its application for permission to appeal the judgement of 13 May, relating to unauthorised school absence.
The High Court has granted a certificate that a point of law of general public importance is involved in this decision. This is entirely as predicted and accordingly, as anticipated, an application will now be made to the Supreme Court seeking leave to appeal.
The council will not be commenting further at this stage.
Update 14:05 : Added council statement
Image: © With permission of Solent News Agency
