"If we’re to meet the demand for school places then councils should be given back the powers to open new maintained schools and existing academy schools should expand where required."
Responding to the latest school capacity figures for the academic year 2016 to 2017 published today, Cllr Richard Watts, Chair of the Local Government Association’s Children and Young People Board, said:
“Councils have an excellent track record of fulfilling their statutory duty to ensure every child has a school place available to them.
“However, they remain under extreme pressure to accommodate rapidly rising numbers of pupils looking for a place.
“Secondary school places are becoming increasingly squeezed, with more families facing growing uncertainty when trying to secure their child’s place.
“If we’re to meet the demand for school places then councils should be given back the powers to open new maintained schools and existing academy schools should expand where required.
“No child should be without a place, but councils fear that they will no longer be able to meet the rising costs for the creation of spaces, nor find the space for new classes, if they aren’t given the money or powers to do so.”
Notes to editors
School capacity: academic year 2016 to 2017