Public policy / Education
Posted by: Kye Stone4 min read

SEND School Fines: Mums of Children With ADHD, Autism and Other Needs Take Petition to Downing Street

A 290,000-signature petition asks for SEND families to be exempt from absence fines.

Posted by: Kye Stone4 min read
A small bright green cube mascot stands outside a closed UK school gate on an empty pavement, looking worried.

Petition at Number 10

A group of mothers called No School Fines handed a petition with about 290,000 signatures into 10 Downing Street on Tuesday 20 October, backed by Motherland actor Anna Maxwell Martin. The campaign has been running for more than four years. It covers special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) broadly — including ADHD and autism — not one condition alone. BBC News reported the hand-in in a follow-up on 25 October.

What they are asking

The petition asks that families of children who have, or are suspected to have, SEND are not fined or prosecuted when the child does not attend school. The group says the campaign is not about fines for term-time holidays. Parents in England currently have no statutory right of appeal against a school attendance penalty notice, according to BBC News.

One family's story

Jo, from Leighton Buzzard, signed the petition. She told the BBC her son Josh, 13, has ADHD and autism and has not been in full-time education for about four years. She described hours in the school car park trying to get her youngest son into school, and said the letters and fines added to the stress: "It's exhausting - I'm fighting fires." She called the letters and fines "scaremongering".

Long waiting lists

Maxwell Martin linked the issue to children waiting a long time to be seen. She told the BBC: "We have children who are grieving, we have children who have so many different struggles on long waiting lists to be seen and while that is the situation we shouldn't be criminalising attendance we should be meeting the needs of children with compassion and care."

Co-founder Maddie Roberts said: "We need clearer guidelines around what support looks like and to stop the fines when that support isn't working."

How fines work

School absence fines in England rose from £60 to £80 in 2024. A second fine for the same child within three years is £160. If the child is off school three or more times in that period, parents may be taken to court and face a fine of up to £2,500, a community order or a jail sentence.

Maxwell Martin called the fines "cruel and unnecessary". The campaign was started in 2022 by Susan Liverman, from Corby, and Maddie Roberts, from Sandy.

What government says

A Department for Education spokesperson said: "Whilst fixed penalty notices continue to have a vital place in our system, schools should take a support-first approach for children who are facing barriers to regular school attendance." The DfE also said that with "a £4bn investment" it was "taking action to transform the system – backing schools to improve inclusion, widening access to specialist support and rolling out training for every teacher".

If this is you

This is a news report, not legal or medical advice. If your child is struggling to attend and you are facing letters or fines, talk to the school and your local authority about support. The official line quoted above is that schools should take a support-first approach where barriers to attendance exist.

If this is your family, you are not alone — and the gap between waiting for assessment and being treated as if absence is a choice is exactly what this campaign is highlighting.

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Sources

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(Original source)

Rewritten for ADHDer from reporting by BBC News. Originally published 25 Oct 2026.

Read the original at BBC News ↗