Three Brighton and Hove parents have been taken to court for failing to ensure their children attended school.
In both cases the teenage children concerned had missed more than eight out of ten lessons over three months this year.
Brighton and Hove City Council brought the cases at Brighton Magistrates’ Court on Monday (27 September).
The parents of a 13-year-old pleaded guilty and were given a one-year conditional discharge.
The father was ordered to pay towards the council’s £150 legal costs and the mother was told to pay £100.
In the second case the parent of another 13-year-old was also given a conditional discharge and ordered to pay £50 costs.
Councillor Vanessa Brown, the council’s cabinet member for children and young people, said: “This is a clear message to the few parents who fail to ensure that their children regularly attend school.
“The courts and the council will take action and will prosecute any parent who continually fails to fulfil their legal responsibility to ensure their child is in attendance.
“Every lesson counts for children and we want parents to know that this is a serious issue and they must co-operate with the education welfare system.”
