SEVEN parents from Sedgemoor have been fined hundreds of pounds after their children failed to regularly attend school.
The parents – who cannot be identified for legal reasons – were fined by Taunton Deane and West Somerset Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, January 26.
Court documents said they were fined for being “the parent of… a child of compulsory school age who… failed to attend regularly” at the school they are registered at.
A total of eight children were involved in the cases: Three are registered at Bridgwater Community Academy, three at Eastover Community Primary School, one at Haygrove School, and one at King Alfred School Academy.
Six parents were fined by their court in their absence, and one pleaded guilty to the offence.
The parents who were sentenced in their absence received fines of £660.
They were also ordered to pay costs of £120 and a £66 surcharge, giving them a total of £846 to pay.
The parent who pleaded guilty must pay a total of £214, which is made up of a £60 fine, £120 in costs, and a £34 surcharge.
Court documents say the “defendant’s guilty plea was taken into account” when their sentence was imposed.
Three other parents from Sedgemoor had the same charge against them dropped.
Somerset County Council’s Education Safeguarding Service (ESS) fulfils the council’s responsibility to ensure parents and carers have their child in education.
Education safeguarding officers are responsible for identifying children missing from education, which they can do through home visits, school attendance sweeps, contacting family members, and liaising with the police and housing groups.
Most cases involving children failing to regularly attend school are resolved out of court.
A spokesperson for Somerset County Council said: “School attendance is vitally important for all children.
“Where there are concerns about attendance, Somerset County Council works with families and schools to understand any issues and support children to be able to attend school regularly.
“Legal intervention is a last resort and is only pursued where supportive interventions have been tried without having the required impact or when parents have not meaningfully engaged with the support available.
“Taking parents to court is not a decision that the Education Safeguarding Service takes lightly, and the majority of attendance-related cases are resolved without needing to do so.”
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