Parents should face child benefit cuts if they fail to ensure their children turn up at school, cabinet minster Michael Gove has suggested.
Speaking at a think tank, the levelling up secretary said the idea could help restore an “ethic of responsibility”.
Mr Gove – who first proposed the idea in 2014 – said it would help tackle anti-social behaviour.
Downing Street said parents could already be fined for children missing school.
The idea of cutting benefits for parents of truants was first suggested by Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair in 2002, but it was dropped in favour of the current fines system.