Term-time clampdown to blame for Thomas Cook woes, says dad who lost court battle

Sunday, 19 May, 2019 0

Jon Platt, the dad who lost a lengthy court battle after being fined for taking his child on holiday during term time, says Thomas Cook’s profit slump is more about stricter rules over school absences than Brexit.

In a post on his Parents UNION Facebook site, Platt said: "I’m sure the CEO is right about some of the reasons for their biggest-ever loss but I think he doesn’t fully appreciate the chilling effect the Supreme Court decision has had on families’ willingness to risk massive fines or even prison for a week in Tenerife."

He added: "Watch this space…lots of holiday firms will fold. We’ve already lost Monarch. These sorts of losses are unsustainable."

In a high-profile 2016 case, the High Court ruled in favour of the Isle of Wight dad, who had earlier been taken to court for refusing to pay a £120 fine when he took his daughter on an unauthorised term-time holiday.

Judges ruled the ‘wider picture’ of a child’s attendance record should be taken into account.

However, a year later, the Government won an appeal at the Supreme Court, and since then, local authorities have been clamping down on unauthorised absences.

Currently, each parent faces a £60 per-child fine, while serial ‘offenders’ face higher fines and even prison.

Platt himself was fined £2,000 and given a 12-month conditional discharge.

Many of the 30,500 members of the Parents UNION site said they agreed with Platt, with one posting: "Holiday companies will now be feeling the effects of the Government’s draconian policies and this is the result."

Another said: "School holiday prices have always been higher as there is greater demand. It’s just got worse now 75% of people are too afraid to take their kids out in term time and pay the fine."

In another comment, a parent said: "Lots of families who holiday every year can now only afford to go every other year or even every few years if they are lucky."

Another posted: "Brexit would not affect me booking a holiday. These fines and threat of court are the ONLY thing I now consider when looking at holidays."

Last week Thomas Cook Group announced a winter pre-tax loss of £1.46 billion, with Brexit one of the reasons given for UK customers to delay their holiday plans this summer.

Tour operator bookings are 12% down year-on-year, although prices are 2% up.

Meanwhile, agents are being urged to get behind Thomas Cook for the sake of the industry, while the operator itself has told clients it’s ‘business as usual’.

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Lisa

Lisa joined Travel Weekly nearly 25 years ago as technology reporter and then sailed around the world for a couple of years as cruise correspondent, before becoming deputy editor. Now freelance, Lisa writes for various print and web publications, edits Corporate Traveller’s client magazine, Gateway, and works on the acclaimed Remembering Wildlife series of photography books, which raise awareness of nature’s most at-risk species and helps to fund their protection.

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