YOUR VIEWS

WHAT you’ve been saying on our Facebook page:

● TRIBUTES following death of scouting legend Gerry Tipling (July 9):

Lee Arnfield: A very polite man who always seemed to have time for anyone. Rip Gerry. Thoughts with the family.

Wayne Bradley: Rip Ger

ry, a proper gentleman. Angela Polding Rawcliffe: Rest in Peace.

● ACTION ‘needed now to stop town centre sliding into the abyss’ claim, July 9:

Anthony Robert: It’s already there and it’s all the MPs’ and councillors’ fault. They’ve done nothing proactive to get this town to what it should be. Ken S Hacking: Bit late to stop it, it’s already sunk. Anna-Marie Freeman:

I think a few weeds on the market square are the least of Accrington’s problems. And isn’t the council funded by the Tories anyway? It’s already in the abyss!

Colin Rhodes: The centre needs to have niche shops because otherwise it couldn’t compete with, Blackburn. Take a look at the craft village on the Isle of Wight and see how many people flock there. No reason why it won’t work for Accrington.

Qadz Khan: Get rid of the council and watch it flourish.

Eddie Beetham: 20 years ago I went every week, nowadays I’ve not been over a year. Why? Beggers, hawkers and it’s cheaper online.

Vivienne Duckett: Why have we not got flower boxes like other towns such as Blackburn and Burnley? They manage it.

● LANCASHIRE parents fined £2m for taking kids on holiday - we asked would you risk the fine? (July 6):

Sharon Bamford: Nothing wrong with taking kids out of school for a week or two for a holiday. We did it every year for our

3 - didn’t do em any harm. All three of em have done well in their jobs.

Keiran Hanson: Had our daughters in school pretty much through the whole pandemic. They both have 100% attendance. Took them out of school over the last 2 weeks to see their grandparents in Jersey who they hadn’t seen for 18 months. Fined £240 but worth every penny. I still don’t agree that it’s not an exceptional circumstance though. Wendy Woozie: As a lone parent with a limited budget I had no choice. They didn’t fine you back then though.

Charlotte H Taylor: Absolutely...640 in fines, but saved over 4k on a holiday. Jade Stanley: £60 for a fine or £500 saving on a holiday out of holiday time... erm yes!

Craig Dinsdale: They have probably saved 6 million in holiday costs! Kirsty Lockhart: Debatable. It’s not always about the money, I took my daughter out and she fell behind massively! I’d rather pay the extra but if she didn’t have to work so hard to achieve her goals I probably would x Katrina Bracken: 4,600 children stayed at home last Thursday instead of going to schools, if we have to live with coronavirus, can we fine the government then. Edna Beach: Yes, travel broadens the mind and some parents have to take them when they can. Kathryn Cunningham:

But it’s ok to be off for months because of Covid-19.

Mick Thompson: Do we fine the head teacher when they have teacher training days and we have to take the day off work? Nick Jones: A law made in the early days of totalitarianism in the UK, didn’t think it would expand as quick as it has though. Carol Johnson: I take mine out of school twice a year to go abroad with them and it’s worth every penny. Neil Mooney: From some of the comments, the fines are not greater than the savings so they are not effective. The fines should be increased to be greater than the holiday savings. Caroline Baker: Looking at the other side of the debate, when you have a large school and parents are taking children out for holidays it could turn into an administrative nightmare tracking who is in and who isn’t and arranging catch up work for those lessons missed... Nicola Stacey: Yeah my daughter’s just had 14 months off school due to Covid, she went back over a month ago, she is not behind her peers at all and the time off hasn’t affected her education at all.

So a week or 2 off in the future is not going to make any difference if 14 months off hasn’t.