Invoice for service failure

Dear Mr Dwyer.

I note with interest that NYCC fined myself and my wife £240 reduced to £120 for early payment, for failing to send our sons to Starbeck School for the last 9 days of term in academic year 2013/2014. This so we could take them on a once in a lifetime camping and cultural trip to Scandinavia. I enclose a copy of the letter I sent to my sons school asking for permission and confirm that the itinerary as specified was undertaken with no drama, apart from a broken alternator in Stockholm and a slight flood in Copenhagen. Oh and in addition I taught my son the fundamentals of analogue electronics by the banks of the Klaralaven River. Your invoice is now paid and whilst I dispute the current interpretation of the legislation on which this fine gains its legitimacy, it would appear the law is on your side.

It is with further interest that I note on two days in academic year 2013/2014 you were unable to provide my children with education. On one day my eldest son was unable to attend as his teacher was taking strike action. On the second day, the Friday before Tour De France weekend, the school shut and neither child was educated. This as traffic armageddon was forecast but did not materialise.

Please also find attached my invoice to the value of £66.51 for your service delivery failure. This is based on the North Yorkshire funding per pupil of £4,337.74 for 195 days of education per academic year. Or £22.17 per lost pupil day. In total three pupil days were lost as a result of your failure to deliver your service which we as local residents pay for though various taxation mechanisms. As the owner of a small business I regret I am unable to offer preferential payment terms. I’m sure you will understand but with a sense of fairness and a desire that you continue to be our service provider, I have not invoiced for the childcare I had to arrange to cover these short notice service outages, I am a reasonable man.

If school based education is as vital as your fine suggests this process must work both ways.