Supreme Court to hear term-time holiday case
The Supreme Court has confirmed that a government-backed appeal against parents taking their children on holiday during term-time will begin on January 31.
The five judges have been appointed for the Isle of Wight Council v Jon Platt case. They are Justices Lord Neuberger, Lady Hale, Lord Mance, Lord Reed and Lord Hughes.
Isle of Wight council will argue that local resident Jon Platt should have paid a fine for taking his daughter out of school for a family holiday to Florida.
Fines for parents who take their children on term-time holidays without permission of their head teacher were introduced by the government to clamp down on student absences, but must be imposed by local councils.
Platt successfully argued in Magistrates’ Court that the Isle of Wight council had misinterpreted the law and that he should not have been fined because his daughter had a good attendance record.
The decision was upheld by the High Court, but the Isle of Wight council has taken the case to the Supreme Court at the request of the Department for Education, which has said it will pick up the council’s legal bill.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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