A couple of weeks ago, before being elevated to the position of Executive member for Children’s Services, Conservative Isle of Wight councillor, Chris Whitehouse, issued a press release (see in full) stating the then-leader of the Isle of Wight council, Jonathan Bacon, should withdraw from the Jon Platt Supreme Court case “before it’s too late”.
A “vindictive harassment”
Cllr Whitehouse called the case a “vindictive harassment” and said it was “an outrage that Isle of Wight Council resources are being used to pursue this case against a responsible parent”.
When the High Court declared last year that Mr Platt had no case to answer for non-payment of school absence fines (after taking his then-six year old daughter out of school to go on a family holiday), the IWC decided they were not going to pursue the case any further.
Government insisted on Supreme Court appeal
It was the Conservative Government (DfE) who ‘requested’ the Isle of Wight council appeal to the Supreme Court.
The DfE were unable to lodge the appeal themselves, but now the case will be heard next week (31st January), Jonathan Bacon said on the Sunday Politics Show (watch on BBC iPlayer jump to 40 mins) that they have taken it over.
Cllr Whitehouse: “Legal agreement” limits “what I can say”
Upon becoming Executive member for Children’s Services last week, OnTheWight asked Cllr Whitehouse whether he would now be withdrawing the case from the Supreme Court – as he had insisted Cllr Bacon do the week before.
It took a few days to get a reply, but yesterday, through the Isle of Wight council’s press office, he replied,
“I have not changed my position on the school absences case, it should have been dropped immediately after the magistrates’ hearing. I am limited in what I can say formally about this case because of a legal agreement entered into by my predecessor on behalf of the council.
“I intend to take further independent legal advice and may issue a purely personal statement in due course.”
Jon Platt: “I’d rather they saw this through”
Jon Platt has been actively involved in the commenting community of OnTheWight and stated in the last few days,
“I am still working now on an agreement that would allow the IW to withdraw avoiding all cost implications for Island taxpayers.
“If they choose to do so but, as I have made clear, I’d rather they saw this through (even if that meant I lost) than withdraw if there was a risk the DfE would leave the IW council taxpayer with this enormous bill.”
Mr Platt has been awarded Legal Aid to fight the case and the DfE said they would pay the council’s High Court (around £15,000 to Mr Platt) and Surpreme Court costs.
Cllr Whitehouse’s press release
On 10th January, Cllr Whitehouse issued the following press release as Island Conservatives’ Education spokesman.
Commenting today on the news that the Supreme Court has scheduled the Isle of Wight Council’s case against Jon Platt for taking his child out of school for a few days, Island Conservatives’ Education spokesman, Cllr Chris Whitehouse (Newport West Ward) says:
“The Council’s vindictive harassment of Jon Platt and his family will be heard by the Supreme Court in London on 31st January. It is an outrage that Isle of Wight Council resources are being used to pursue this case against a responsible parent, who acted entirely in the best interests of his children and in accordance with Cllr Bacon’s own written policy on school absence. It’s clear that the Council Leader knows little about the real facts of this case or, as a parent himself, he would join me in backing the Platt family and would withdraw the case immediately before it is too late.”
Repeating earlier warnings about the implications of the case, Cllr Whitehouse added:
“This is no longer just about one parent and one child. What Council Leader Jonathan Bacon would have the Supreme Court do is to criminalise retrospectively the actions of tens of thousands of parents, on and off the Island, over decades, by seeking to overturn all previous court decisions in this area of policy. This is madness, an arrogance of power, with no accountability at all given this case has never been backed by Full Council.”
Island Conservatives have also pledged that if elected to run the Isle of Wight Council in May they will have a deep and meaningful consultation with parents, pupils, teachers and employers about whether to change term time dates to give parents more flexibility in terms of taking off-peak holidays and in driving up education standards.
