Education officials in Hertfordshire issued more than 5000 fines to parents who took their children on term-time holidays last year (2025/26), according to data obtained by the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Since 2024, parents who have opted for lower-cost, term-time holidays have faced stricter and steeper fines for their child's absence from school.

The fines – or fixed penalty notices (FPNs) – are now triggered by 10 missed half-days, rather than 15.

And the level of the FPN has increased, from the previous £60 to £80 for a first offence and £160 for a second, with each fine payable per parent and per child.

Data obtained by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) shows that in the 2025/26 academic year the number of FPNs issued by Hertfordshire County Council for this type of absence continued to increase.

Between September 1 last year (2025) and August 31 this year (2026), the council issued 5,852 FPNs to parents whose children had been absent from school for a term-time holiday.

That is 1,159 more than the number of these FPNs issued by the county council in the 2024/25 academic year.

And according to the county council, the value of the FPNs issued in 2025/26 totalled £468,160.

The county council's executive member for education, SEND and inclusion Cllr Mark Watkin (Liberal Democrat, Nascot Park) said: "Making sure all children access the full-time education to which they are entitled remains a top priority for us in Hertfordshire

"We are sure that the parents of Hertfordshire want the best education for their children.

"By taking family holidays during the school holiday periods, the parents of Hertfordshire will be supporting their children's full school attendance, learning and development."

However, Opposition spokesperson Cllr Ralph Muncer (Conservative, Knebworth and Codicote) suggested it may be something the Government needed to look at.

"I think what we need to ensure is that the approach of the county council is one that is targeted and measured," he said.

"I think we need to be focused on those children who are frequently and consistently missing school and absent from school, as opposed to those children whose non-attendance at school is very much the exception and not the rule.

"I appreciate [the council] is constrained by the legislation and therefore it is potentially something that Parliament needs to look at."

Data obtained from the county council by the Local Democracy Reporting Service shows how the number of parents being issued with fines for holiday absence has increased over the past three years.

In 2024/25, the council issued 4,693 term-time holiday fines, with a total value of £389,440.

In 2023/24 – the year before the changes were introduced, when parents could remove their children for up to 15 half-days without penalty – just 1,292 FPNs were issued for holiday absence, with a value of £80,300.

The fines are paid directly to the county council in order to fund the administration of the penalty notice system and any prosecutions, and can be used for attendance support.