BIRKENHEAD MP Frank Field is launching a campaign on behalf of hard-up parents whose families are stretched to breaking point by the different holiday timetables chosen by schools in Wirral.

He says timetables across the borough should be standardised.

And he is concerned that "Brothers and sisters who go to different schools are, in some cases, being deprived of the chance to spend time together."

Mr Field has found evidence of: 

One parent with children in three different schools who is having to cope with three different holiday timetables. The effect of this is to extend a two-week holiday to four weeks, which makes it much more expensive to afford meals for their children.

Another parent with two children who attend two different schools in the same street, both of which have different holiday timetables. The two-week holiday for this family has been extended to three weeks. The children are unable to spend time together or go on days out as a family. They also miss out on activities that operate during one timetable only.

And aparent with five children – four in one school, one in a different school  cannot take their eldest child on holiday with the rest of the family due to the different holiday timetables.

Having put these concerns to Wirral Council, the MP is now campaigning for school holiday timetables to be standardised.

While maintained schools do work to such timetables, independent schools and academies are free to set their own.

Mr Field said: ‘Having a whole series of different holiday timetables is dividing some families.

"Brothers and sisters who go to different schools are, in some cases, being deprived of the chance to spend time together, either at home or away on a short break.

"Hard-up parents, meanwhile, are being asked to stretch an already tight two-week holiday budget over three weeks or more.

"Clearly something in the system has to give.

" Otherwise it will carry on driving family members apart, and family budgets into the ground."