THERE are few things as annoying as paying through the nose for your summer holiday because of the way prices get hiked up in between school terms.

Actually, there are lots of things more annoying, but still – it is a prime source of rage for anyone forced to arrange holidays in this time, whether due to having school-age children or working in the teaching profession.

The idea that giving schools the power to change their term dates will help, as suggested by MP Michael Gove and Wycombe MP Steve Baker in these very pages is clearly utter nonsense.

The only way for that to make a meaningful difference is for schools to so radically alter their term periods that we wouldn’t be having summer holidays at all. An autumnal trip to, say, the Devon seaside doesn’t sound quite as enticing as a summertime one after all.

All that will happen if more moderate term date changes kick in is that firms and airlines will simply extend their high-season period to account for the variations in school holiday times.

And that will simply penalise those now able to holiday either side of high season – often retirees or pre-school age families.

So, all in all, it’s a dreadful idea that will help no one except those very firms and accommodation providers that were already profiting – a pointless suggestion that tries and fails to sidestep the issue.

Capping pricing hikes on holiday costs flies in the face of the free market – but the mark up for some holiday accommodation, even in this country, is simply astronomical. Is it too much to ask that a balance be struck between the needs of the consumer and those of the holiday provider?

The simple act of living costs enough these days. Heating, fuel, food and mortgage payments (not a cheap thing in Bucks) are all choking our wallets so fiercely that for many of us a holiday has to be a carefully considered luxury.

And those rising costs with non-rising wages mean in many families both parents have no choice but to work full time, and quality time with the kids becomes a premium in itself.

Of course it isn’t ideal that parents take their children out of school to go on affordable holidays, but why shouldn’t a strictly limited discretionary leave system be in place at schools if children have otherwise strong attendance records?

And who is to say that for some kids a good holiday allowing them to spend proper time with their family may not be just as valuable for them as those few days at school?