South Gloucestershire Education Welfare Service has legal powers to take action via the courts for persistent non-attenders.
Under Section 444 of the Education Act of 1996, parents can be prosecuted for failure to ensure regular school attendance via the magistrates court. The penalty for an offence under this act can be a fine of up to £1,000.
There is a more serious offence under Section 444 (1)(a) (in the circumstances the parent knows that his/her child is failing to attend regularly at the school and fails without reasonable justification to cause him/her to do so) for which there is a maximum fine of £2,500, a term of imprisonment of up to 3 months or both. A warrant could be issued requesting the defendant to attend court for sentencing.
The authority can also take action via the Family Proceedings Court under Section 36 of the Children Act of 1989 and apply for an Education Supervision Order, making the LA (local authority) responsible for the education of the child. This action is taken to support parents.
The authority can serve School Attendance Orders under sections 437-443 of the Education Act of 1996 in respect of pupils who are not registered at any school or registered to be receiving education other than at school.