The British government yesterday announced a fresh clampdown on school truancy, warning parents they could be fined up to £2,500 each or face jail if they failed to do their duty.
The Education and Employment Secretary, Mr David Blunkett, told the Labour Party's annual conference in Bournemouth that parents had to face up to their responsibility.
"Parents have a responsibility . . . A child not in lessons is a child not learning. We all pay the price for that," he told party members. "We must crack down on truancy. If we don't, there is evidence that shows truants are more likely to drift into crime, be unemployed and earn less," he added. Under the plan, parents would face combined fines of up to £5,000 and if they failed to turn up to court when fines were imposed they could face jail sentences, the Education Secretary warned.
Mr Blunkett said that only 20 per cent of parents of truants turned up in court. Eight million school days a year were lost to truancy and two-thirds of regular truants got into trouble with the law.
On Tuesday, the British Prime Minister, Mr Blair, said in his keynote speech to the conference that he wanted to set people free to reach their potential and have "strong families cherished by strong communities".
Young musicians from a private school were booed at a British Labour conference fringe meeting in Bournemouth, it emerged yesterday. The girls, aged 14-16, played jazz to a gathering attended by the Culture Secretary, Mr Chris Smith, aimed at highlighting social exclusion.
Conference delegates attending the meeting booed when the name of the school was announced and it emerged it was in the independent sector. The incident, on Monday night, came just hours before the Prime Minister told the conference that the class war was over.