Responding to research from the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER), which links social media use to children's absence from school, and finds parental fines are considered an ineffective response, Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said:

“These findings demonstrate just how ineffective fines often are in tackling persistent absence.

“The report shows this is a view held by a majority of parents, as well as school staff. We have long argued that fines are a blunt instrument which do not get to the root causes of absence, especially when it is linked to children’s wellbeing.

“There is now an opportunity for the new government to rethink its use of fines and better support the hard work schools already do to encourage attendance. Rather than doing what we’ve always done and expecting different results, now is the time for fresh thinking.

“Measures like free breakfast clubs and a register of children not in school may help, and the effectiveness of proposals to reduce children’s screentime, including by banning social media use among under-16s, remains to be seen.

“It is clear however that while many issues affecting young people’s wellbeing arise outside school, services which offer crucial early help for children and families like mental health and social care have faced years of under-investment under previous governments.

“This must change, and while the attendance mentors introduced by the government in some areas may help, its evaluation of this scheme showed the importance of a laser-like focus on addressing the underlying reasons for absence.”