I would like to request the number of unauthorized term time absences submitted to DCC by each primary school in the Exmouth area so far for 2017.
Please present the information so each absence can be linked to an individual (obviously not personal info) and where absences exceed the 5 “allowed” days, the fine related to the absence. Where a fine was not enforced despite exceeding the 5 day threshold please highlight this and a reason why. Where an absence led to court action please detail the costs of taking the matter to court and the financial outcome of the court case.
The numbers of unauthorised term time absences for primary schools in the Exmouth area are provided within the below table from 1st September 2017 to 5th October 2017. Please note that pupil numbers of 5 or below have been suppressed under Section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 – ‘Personal Information’ as we believe that release of these figures could lead to the identification of the individuals concerned which would be in breach of principle 1 of the Data Protection Act 1998. This is also in line with Department for Education Policy.
Please also note that the figures provided below represent the raw data figures supplied to us direct from schools during this time period and, as such, are currently unvalidated. The most recently published validated figures are provided on the Gov.uk website
| School Name | School Status |
Number of unauthorised absences as at 05/10/2017 |
Total Pupils with unauthorised absences as at 05/10/2017 |
Number of pupils with more than 5 unauthorised days absence as at 05/10/2017 |
| Exeter Road Community Primary School | LA | 29 | * | * |
| Marpool Primary School | LA | 130 | 18 | * |
| Brixington Primary Academy | Academy | 130 | 17 | * |
| Bassetts Farm Primary School | LA | 43 | 7 | * |
| Withycombe Raleigh Church of England Primary School | LA | 101 | 27 | * |
| Lympstone Church Of England Primary School | LA | 10 | * | 0 |
| Littleham Church of England Primary School | LA | 17 | 10 | 0 |
| St Peter’s Church of England Primary School | LA | 106 | 38 | 0 |
| Drake’s Church of England Primary School | LA | 26 | * | * |
| The Beacon Church of England (VA) Primary School | LA | * | * | 0 |
| St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School, Exmouth | Academy | 29 | 12 | 0 |
| Otterton Church Of England Primary School | LA | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Woodbury Church Of England Primary School | LA | 45 | 14 | 0 |
| Woodbury Salterton Church Of England Primary School | LA | * | * | 0 |
| Total | 676 | 159 | 14 |
Between the 1st September 2017 to 5th October 2017 256 fines were issued throughout the Devon County Council Local Authority area. All these were for unauthorised absences of five days or greater.
The number of fines issued for primary schools in the Exmouth area during this time period is too small to release (5 or less) under Section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 – ‘Personal Information’ as we believe that release of these figures could lead to the identification of the individuals concerned which would be in breach of principle 1 of the Data Protection Act 1998.
Decisions as to whether or not to issue fines for unauthorised absence, are taken on a case by case basis, and the reasons are, therefore, personal to the particular family(s) concerned. This information is consequently exempt from disclosure under Section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 as release of this information could lead to the identification of the individuals concerned and release personal information relating to these families.
In cases where fines have not been paid, it is too early to say whether these will be taken to court and decisions will be taken on a case by case basis as indicated above.