“I would like to request the following information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 regarding penalty notices issued for unauthorised absences from schools:
1. Since the new amendment to authorised absences in 2013 to the current date, what is the total revenue accrued for all Devon County schools and academies through penalty notices?
£184,560 as per records held by issuing officer of fines received and awarded.
2. What were the staff/admin costs including legal fees/court fees etc. for the above over the same time period?
Admin costs for 5 years at grade F totals £229,865. There are no court costs or legal fees associated with bringing these prosecutions, cases are dealt with in-house but we do not record time spent by legal staff in this regard.
3. What was / is the revenue collected used for?”
The regulations state that the LEA can retain revenue from the Penalty Notice Scheme to cover the costs of issuing or enforcing the notices, or the cost of prosecuting recipients who do not pay. The income in Devon has therefore gone against administration costs.