As we draw nearer to the holiday season, many people with children may getting a bit frustrated about the huge hike in rental costs for holiday park breaks, particularly over the half term. The price changes over these periods can be phenomenal.
I regularly get emails advertising £50 for a whole family midweek break in the period just prior to, and following the Spring half term, with the actual week of half term being hiked up to around the £300 mark from one holiday vendor. I’m not pointing my finger, because most holiday operators do the same.
Holiday parks have several types of holidaymaker, but probably the biggest group is the ‘family’. Of course the parks will make their summer holidays more expensive to make up for the low footfall over winter months, but the whole issue of school holidays may make the situation worse.
Taking a break in term to take advantage of cheaper holidays is at the very least frowned on by local authorities, and worse case scenario is if it tips you child’s attendance below a certain percentage you can be on the way to a bit of trouble, including fines. Pupils have gradually become more monitored over the years, and despite what your views on the nanny state are, it is a good thing that does go some way to protecting vulnerable children. Their academic performance aside, it is their socialisation and general well-being that is foremost. Sadly it does fall on schools in some way to ‘keep an eye’ on the kids.
The downside of this, is that with many of the most vulnerable children coming from lower income backgrounds they are the ones who may in a sense be ‘doubly penalised’, as their families are those least likely to be able to afford the price hikes.
It is not only the poorest families being hit with this, as effects of the economic downturn are hitting many families. So, what can be done about it (if anything)?
The holiday companies themselves are not going to reduce their prices independently, because they know their parks will fill up during the holidays, so it wouldn’t make sense for them financially.
This leaves the local authorities, who are directed by Westminster. It’s a very sticky issue for any political party. No-one wants to be seen as soft on crime or benefits, and they certainly wouldn’t want to be seen to be encouraging anything that would worsen the poor performance of many of our schools.
A parliamentary session debating the issue of school attendance policies was held on February 24th although this is just the start of getting the ball rolling, and there is a long way to go before anything concrete will materialise. We will be following this one closely, as it, along with other considerations such as high VAT have a direct affect on holiday companies and more importantly the cost of a caravan park holiday for families. Original article.
By: Gareth Whieldon
