The Island’s MP has asked John Metcalfe, the Isle of Wight Council’s Chief Executive, for clarity on who made the decision to take father-of-2 Jon Platt to the High Court, and for the full cost of the Court case lost yesterday, including a calculation of officer time spent.
Andrew Turner is also asking why the Island’s cash-strapped Council decided that of all the local authorities in England, they must be the one to squander scarce resources ‘seeking clarity on the matter’, as stated by Isle of Wight Council Leader, Jonathan Bacon.
Andrew Turner has congratulated Mr Platt, describing him as a ‘David taking on Goliath’.
Mr Turner said:
“I have e-mailed the Chief Executive asking who made the decision to take Mr Platt to the High Court. The Isle of Wight was the first Council in the country to take such action, despite pleading poverty, and I have also asked for the full cost, including a calculation of officer time spent on the case, which the Council sometimes seem to consider costs nothing.
“There was already clarity that it was not for the Council to decide whether a child could be taken out of school. Back in March 2014, I asked the then Education Secretary, The Rt Hon Michael Gove MP, what constituted ‘exceptional circumstances’ to allow taking a child on holiday in term time. In responding he was very clear that it was up to individual head teachers to take that decision, taking into account all the circumstances. I asked the question then because I had come across examples on the Island where schools had been misled, and told that the Government had banned all term-time holidays, which was untrue. There is no definition of ‘regular attendance’ in the legislation precisely because the Government, whilst believing that children should attend school regularly, accept that individual circumstances should be taken into account, and they decided that it was for head teachers to judge’.
“I congratulate Mr Platt on his victory. He stood up for his principles; a real David taking on Goliath”.
