Lucy Powell MP, Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary, commenting on the High Court’s term time holiday ruling, said:

“All the evidence shows that regular attendance at school is an important part of ensuring that children fulfil their potential. This decision has been coming for a long time and the government has missed earlier opportunities to deal with it decisively.

“This ruling is the worst of both worlds as it puts parents and head teachers in a very difficult position. We will work with Ministers to clarify the law. There should be a clear expectation that children should be in school during term time but there may be some exceptional circumstances where this isn’t possible and head teachers should be given discretion in these cases.”