Bedfordshire mum to deliver 250k petition over school fines for children with SEND to Downing Street

A petition with nearly 250,000 signatures is being delivered to Downing Street by two mothers on Tuesday (March 21)

The ‘No School Fines’ campaign is being presented to Downing Street, which is hoped to raise awareness of the impact of school fines and prosecutions on families nationally.

This comes as the families of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are threatened with action for missing school.

In order to get to the bottom of what their child is experiencing and get a diagnosis, school has to be missed for assessments and families are being penalised as a result.

The ‘No School Fines’ petition, which has more than 245,000 signatures, is being delivered to Downing Street on Tuesday (March 21).

It was first launched in February 2022 by Susan Liverman from Northamptonshire and Maddie Roberts from Bedfordshire, who both experienced threats of fines and prosecution while their children were placed on long waiting lists for support for special educational needs.

Their children were expected to go to school when they were too unwell to do so, and hundreds of other parents have been in touch to share similar stories.

In a statement Susan and Maddie, 44 and 40, said: “SEND and other marginalised families are being fined and prosecuted when their children can’t – not won’t – attend school.

“At nearly 250,000 signatures, we call on the government to stop denying this isn’t happening and listen to families who are saying loud and clear that it is.

“Please, No School Fines for our families.”

The pair will be joined by parents, carers, supporters, grassroots organisations and other lobbyists, including the West Northants SEND Action Group, in London to show solidarity for those affected by the issue.

A peaceful procession will take place up to Downing Street for 3pm – in a bid to show how this issue is being exacerbated by the government’s latest attendance guidance and drive for 100 percent.

In September 2022, the government issued new attendance guidance, which Susan and Maddie believes encourages the use of fines and prosecution.

The mothers first met in an online support group named EOTAS Matters, which stands for Education Other Than At School.

It was two years ago that Susan’s son Arthur struggled to go to school and they were trying to get to the bottom of what was going on.

Arthur was placed on the CAMHS waiting list and Susan said: “We were asked to prove or provide medical evidence of illness, otherwise things would have got tricky for us and it was as if the local authority was threatening fines.”

Though Arthur is thankfully now back in education, the same thing happened to Maddie’s 10-year-old son Harleigh and hundreds of others who have come forward since the petition was launched.

Talking about the pressure of the threat of fines to his family, Harleigh said: “I just felt like rubbish when mum was trying to force me to go and I couldn’t.”

Harleigh is now thriving in an educational provision that meets his needs and said: “I don’t want other children and parents to feel like we did.”

The government and Department for Education has issued a response to the petition ahead of it being presented at Downing Street.

Susan said: “They’ve stated the attendance guidance isn’t intended to encourage fines and prosecutions, but this is happening to families again and again.

“We were shocked when it happened to us, as well as finding out just how many others are impacted.”

With hundreds of thousands of signatures, Susan says the support has been “validating” and it is good to see the issue getting wider recognition outside of the SEND community.

“We are hopeful for change for families like ours, to make sure that for children that can’t go to school, there are no repercussions,” said Susan.

The best case scenario would be for the government and Department for Education to “acknowledge the attendance guidance is causing this to happen”.

Susan said: “We hope we will not continue to be ignored and issued generic statements about the intention of the attendance guidance – which ignore the fact it is causing harm and something needs to be done.”

The duo are “pleased and overwhelmed” with the support they have received on this national issue – and hope this “real sense of coming together to make change” will pay off on Tuesday (March 21).