Legal Interventions

Assembling the pack

Once it has been agreed between the Local Authority (LA) and school that a prosecution under Section 444 of the Education Act 1996 is the most appropriate action to take, a prosecution pack needs to be assembled. This is the paperwork that the LA will submit to court as evidence of an offence under Section 444 against the parent(s).  

A prosecution pack comprises of the following sections:

1. Witness statement
2. Exhibits
3. Headteachers certificate/registration certificate

We also ask for a year-to-date registration certificate (herringbone) that includes the commentary of reasons for absence and what contact if any has been received from parents. Although this is not evidential it is used for information purposes.

Witness statement

We have created a template for schools to use, to model the type of information that should be in the Guide Witness Statement (Word doc) [52KB]. However, it may be that the suggested points are not applicable in every situation. If that is the case, schools should adapt the template so there is an accurate account of what happened.

A witness statement is a record of what the witness saw, heard, and did in relation to the case in question. The courts understand that some tasks may be completed by other members of staff within school e.g. it is unlikely that a Headteacher/Principal will send a letter to a parent in some schools, as the task would be completed by an administrative assistant. If that is the case, the statement writer should refer to any tasks completed by other members of staff as 'the school sent a letter' rather than 'Mrs X sent a letter'. That will avoid the need for a separate statement from Mrs X.

Aside from the exhibits, the witness statement is the school's opportunity to evidence the amount of support offered to the child/family before a prosecution was agreed. It is important that school details that support in their statement, as anything that is not in the exhibits or statement cannot be used in court as evidence.

Exhibits

Your exhibits are the letters, meeting records and logs specific to the case in question. They should be exhibited in a chronological order and should be referred to throughout the witness statement e.g. if your witness statement says 'on 01/05/24 I sent a letter to Mrs X', your statement will cross reference an exhibit that evidences the letter was sent.

Exhibits should be labelled using the statement writer's initials and a chronological number e.g. if the statement writer's name is Robert Smith, the exhibits should be labelled RS1, RS2, etc.

We have created Witness statement labels template (Word doc) [12KB] for schools to use. A witness statement label should be placed on every page of the exhibits and numbered, signed and dated accordingly. The dates on the exhibits should all match the date on the witness statement. The Label should not cover up anything on the paperwork where possible.

Headteachers certificate/registration certificate

A Headteachers certificate confirms certain points required for a successful Section 444 prosecution; it proves that the child is of compulsory school age, is registered at a school, who their parents are, and their attendance during a specific period. We have created a S566 Certificate of Attendance (Word doc) [47KB] for schools to use. The Headteachers certificate and subsequent herringbone evidences the child's attendance during a specific period, known as the prosecution period (the period in which the offence occurred). The LA will confirm the appropriate prosecution period.   

The herringbone that accompanies the Headteachers certificate should show the attendance for the prosecution period only. It should also display the attendance figures for that period but does not need to display any day-to-day notes re absence. Ideally, the Headteachers certificate and the herringbone certificate should total 2 pages. Both pages need to be signed and dated by the Headteacher/Principal. The only time we can accept someone other than the Headteacher/Principal signing the certificate is if there is an interim Headteacher/Principal in place.

Sending the pack to the Local Authority

Once all the paperwork is completed, the pack should be sent to the LA via email to csattendance@norfolk.gov.uk. The scanned paperwork should all face the same way round and there should be no blank pages. It is advisable to send the separate sections of the pack as individual attachments, as any corrections/amendments can be made without the need to re scan and resend the entire pack in again e.g. if there is a small error on the witness statement that needs correcting. 

An Attendance & Entitlement Officer (AEO) will be assigned to review the pack and will confirm whether it is complete or if further amendments are required. The AEO will explain what those amendments are and will offer any support required to help get the pack 'court ready'.

Once the pack is complete

Once the pack has been confirmed complete by an AEO and the case has been agreed for prosecution, the AEO will send a letter to the parent(s) of the child. This letter will inform them that their child's absence meets the criteria for a prosecution under either Section 444 (1) or 444 (1a) and will either invite them to contact us to arrange a pre-court meeting either face to face or via video/phone call or inform them that we aim to visit them at a certain day/time to discuss the case.  

The purpose of the pre-court meeting is to discuss the barriers that are preventing regular attendance at school and explore any support that can be identified, obtain the views of the parent(s) and young person, and ensure the LA has all necessary information/evidence - especially in relation to mitigating circumstances and/or any potential statutory defence.