Michael Gove: suspend air passenger duty during school summer holidays
 This would bring down the cost of family breaks and reduce the likelihood of families going away together during term time Air passenger duty should be suspended during the summer to cut the cost of family holidays, ministers were told, as the education secretary, Michael Gove, insisted parents should not take their children out of school during term time. Gove made his point as MPs debated relaxing the rules on term-time holidays in the wake of an e-petition signed by 170,000 people condemning exploitative holiday companies. The education secretary said it was wrong for parents to take children out of school during term time to take advantage of cheaper holidays, adding that parents should instead lobby their schools to change their term dates to allow pupils to go on holiday at different times, as the coalition government has given them the ability to do. Gove said: "There's no need to sacrifice your child's education in order to secure a cheaper holiday. Schools now have the freedom to change their term dates in order to allow students and families the opportunity to go on holiday at different times. "There are schools, like the David Young Community Academy in Leeds, that have altered their term times in order to enable parents to take advantage of cut-price deals. "My own view is that the holiday industry needs to look at itself in the mirror and ask is it doing enough?" He added: "It's wrong to take children out of school when they should be at school because it's important that we make sure that children learn." "If we are worried about people being hard-pressed and facing economic tough times, the answer to that is to make sure that our country as a whole is better educated and more competitive, and it doesn't help anyone if you take your children out of school during term time." The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills said it was "for business to decide the market worth of their products and to price accordingly". A poll for ITV News found that half (51%) of parents of children under the age of 18 would take them out of school during term time if it meant they could get a significantly cheaper holiday. 42% of the wider British public agreed they would be right to do so. Just one in eight British adults (13%) questioned by pollsters ComRes agreed that current travel prices for booking trips abroad during the school holidays are fair, while seven in 10 (71%) disagreed. The e-petition created by Donna Thresher said: It's time to stop the holiday companies cashing in on school holidays and let parents have some guilt-free family time! "Enforce action that caps the percentage increase on holiday prices in school holidays." Anne Longfield, chief executive of family charity 4Children, said that the "hugely inflated" prices charged during the school holidays "cannot be justified", but that taking children out of school during term time could in some cases put their education at risk. Some evidence suggests the cost of holidays in half terms rise by as much as 300% in response to increased demand. Travelzoo, the internet holiday operator, warned that summer holidays risked becoming a "luxury only a few can afford". The company said air passenger duty – a green levy on flights – should be suspended or reduced during the summer to help parents. Air passenger duty can add as much as £376 to outbound long-haul flights – and even £52 for short-haul routes. The tax generates £3bn a year for the Treasury. theguardian.com © 2014 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds |
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