Copyright bbc
During the debate, the chairwoman of the Education Select Committee, Helen Hayes, called on the government "to do more to work with the travel industry" to stop "unfair price hikes". Hayes suggested a potential solution could be introducing a new family-friendly charter mark for companies that even out their holiday pricing throughout the year. While she agreed the fines policy was "very flawed", Hayes said she did not agree 10 days of permitted absence a year was the right way to address concerns. In response, Gould said: "We're committed to tackling this problem because as we heard from many, absence is one of the biggest barriers to opportunity, damaging learning, health and wellbeing, future earnings and employment and each day of lost learning can do serious harm. "And that is why we won't allow pupils to miss 10 days of school without good reason." Gould also said she hoped travel companies were watching the debate and "listening to the strength of feeling" on the price of going away in the school holidays. The latest figures from the Department for Education last week showed a slight improvement in overall attendance but an increase in children classed as severely absent.
