Last month, we reported on the growing debate about the price of flights during school holiday. Well, the topic has gained ground following more comments from parents and travel companies. So much so that this week, MPs will be discussing this and the impact of legislation introduced on 1st September 2013 where parents will now be fined for each day they take their children out of school during term time.
Parents Want a Say, a not-for-profit organisation set up for parents to voice their concern, said that they sent over 200,000 views of parents to every MP prior to the debate, and calling for term time amendments in the rules to be scrapped. Craig Langham, who started the organisation, said: “Parents are not saying that taking children out of school is an absolute right. They simply want to revert back to allowing Head Teachers to make common sense decisions based on circumstances.”
For some families, the new legislation will have quite a significant impact as many would not be able afford holidays during a term break; it will also impact businesses as many won’t be able to allow staff that are parents to take holiday time at the same time. And it seems that travel companies are in agreement with parents; a recent Travelzoo survey revealed that 85% of respondents reported they had already started to feel the financial impact following last year’s legislation change. A further 7 out of 10 travel companies say that MPs should not interfere with family holidays, and 67% saying it was unacceptable that the travel industry was not consulted prior to the legislation being implemented.
Richard Singer, European managing director at Travelzoo, said: “We’ve seen cases recently where parents have been fined for taking their children out of school for holidays during term time, and a quarter of the travel companies surveyed said that they might have to put prices up during the summer holidays to counteract the drop-off of families travelling during term time.”
An e-petition, called ‘Parent Trap’, has been set up by Travelzoo calling for APD (Air Passenger Duty) to be reduced, or scrapped, during the school holidays to help families afford the cost of breaks in these peak periods. To date, it is 38,504 signatures… quite a telling figure!
ABTA takes a slight different view; they are calling for the regional staggering of school holidays, similar to other European countries, which would stretch out the summer peak periods, and in particular half term in February. A recent poll of their members reported that 85% backed this initiative, and encouraged families to book their holidays early in order to the best price.
We wait to hear the outcome of the debate…
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