MORE than 350 par- ents in Bolton were fined for allowing their children to miss too many class- es in the past school year.

Of these, 139 were taken to court and prosecuted, Freedom of Information figures obtained by The Bolton News have revealed.

The 359 fined between September, 2010, and August, 2011, was slightly up on the previous year’s figure of 354, and 306 parents were fined from Sep- tember, 2008, to August, 2009. A Bolton Council spokesman said: “The amount of time that Bolton’s pupils spend absent from school continues to reduce, and remains lower than their peers in the North West and across the country.

“This shows great dedication from the borough’s parents, teachers, school staff and young people, and has been achieved through a number of wide-ranging schemes in schools.”

The standard fine for a penalty notice is £50 if paid within 28 days or £100 if paid within 42 days, and the money goes back into the Early Intervention and Connexions Service. According to the coun- cil’s Code of Conduct, fines will be consid- ered when a pupil has been taken on a holi- day during term-time without the school’s consent.

Penalty notices will be considered when there is evidence of a minimum of 20 ses- sions of unauthorised absences or late absences in any term, with a session being half a day.

Except in cases of unauthorised term- time holidays, a parent or carer will usually receive a written notice from the school before a fine is issued. If the child’s atten- dance does not improve, a penalty notice will be issued.

A spokesman for the Early Intervention and Connexions Service said: “Working with our schools, the coun- cil takes the issue of persistent absence very seriously. We will always seek to speak to parents whose chil- dren are regularly absent from school to understand and find a solution to any issues that they have that are causing absence.

“Issuing penalty notices is a measure that we are prepared to take if needs be, but only after attempting to work closely with the family.”