Education penalty notice code of conduct

Penalty Notices issued by schools or police 

If an authorised officer from a school or the police intends to issue a penalty notice they must contact Southwark’s Education Inclusion Team (earlyhelp@southwark.gov.uk) to ascertain if there are any other enforcement processes to consider. The local authority must be satisfied that sufficient support has been provided and there is evidence as described in paras 25 and 26 above. 

Whoever is issuing the penalty notice should decide whether proportionate support has been provided and if it has worked. Where there is dispute, authorised officers are expected to defer to the local authority’s judgement about whether sufficient support has been provided before issuing a penalty notice. 

The LA will inform the school about whether penalty notices are paid, withdrawn or prosecuted for non-payment. Southwark will provide this on a termly basis. 

Where pupils move between local authority areas, Southwark can be contacted on crossborder.penaltynotice@southwark.gov.uk to find out if penalty notices have been issued previously. 

Where pupils attend school in Southwark but live in a different LA, Southwark LA will liaise with the home LA in cases where a penalty notice is being considered and support is appropriate, and that support is being provided by the home LA. 

Page last updated: 07 November 2024