Ban on term-time holidays upheld

A ban on parents taking their children on term-time holidays has been upheld by the Supreme Court in a landmark ruling issued today.

In a unanimous decision, the justices upheld a fine imposed on father Jon Platt who took his daughter on a trip to Florida in April 2015 despite being refused permission by the girl's head teacher.

They overturned last May's ruling by the High Court, which had agreed with Platt that he shouldn't have been fined £60 by his local education authority because his daughter had a good attendance record.

Delivering the judgment, the deputy president of the Supreme Court, Lady Hale, said: "Unauthorised absences have a disruptive effect, not only on the education of the individual child but also on the work of other pupils.

"If one pupil can be taken out whenever it suits the parent, then so can others.