Following on from last Friday’s High Court hearing between Jon Platt and the Isle of Wight council we know that Mr Platt’s costs are to be covered by the council after they lost the case
The Isle of Wight council had previously said (back in November 2015 when OnTheWight asked) they’d expected their costs to be around £10,000 and Jon Platt last week declared his costs to be £14,631.
Breakdown of the £25k costs
The full breakdown of the council’s costs have been revealed this week and are as follows:
Isle of Wight Council’s costs for the High Court case:
- Counsel – £6,390
- Court fee – £235
- Process server – £180
- Cost of in house lawyers – £3,021
- Jon Platt’s costs – £14,631
In addition, previous Magistrates court costs came to £693, taking the total to £25,150.
Council motion to urge action by DfE
Isle of Wight councillors will next week consider a motion by leader of the council, Cllr Jonathan Bacon which seeks to urge the Department for Education to provide more clarity on the issue.
Following the outcome of the High Court hearing on the 13th May 2016 concerning the enforcement of non-school attendance, the council made clear in its statement released on 13th May 2016 that it would be pressing the Department for Education to urgently consider creating clear legislation on this matter for the benefit of parents, schools and local authorities alike.
The proceedings were taken to seek clarification on this matter and unfortunately the ruling has created massive uncertainty and cast a shadow of doubt over the policies of schools and local authorities across the country.
The Department for Education had outlined what it considered to be ‘regular’ attendance, which was that children should attend school every day, and it is under that assumption that the Isle of Wight Council acted. It is also clear that attendance and educational attainment are intertwined.
In view of this the IW Council agrees to write to the DfE and :-
- Urge the DfE to either amend or introduce new legislation to clarify the requirements for school attendance.
- Request that any such amended or new legislation recognise fully the link between attendance and educational attainment.
- Reconsider the enforcement of the rules on attendance by the fining of parents and consider the introduction of alternatives to this based on reward for and encouragement of good attendance.
- Request the DfE to urgently clarify the position pending any new or amended legislation, and issue guidance both to Local Authorities, and to those parents currently facing fines or court proceedings in respect of the non-attendance of their children at school.
LGA: Common sense approach needed
Cllr Roy Perry, Chairman of the LGA’s Children and Young People Board, said:
“Blanket bans do not always work and as last week’s High Court ruling shows, it’s a system that is not always enforceable. We want to work with the Government to find a sensible solution whereby every family has the option to spend time together.
“We fully support the Department for Education’s stance on every child being in school every day, but there are occasions when parental requests should be given individual consideration and a common sense approach applied, with head teachers best placed to understand the needs of pupils and their families and therefore take these decisions.
“Clarity around the rules will make sure that councils aren’t being forced to spend time and money enforcing the rules where this isn’t necessary.”
