“Councils have a legal duty to ensure capacity but need powers to open new schools or direct academies to expand. This is the best way to ensure as many children as possible get the places they want.”
Responding to the latest Department for Education school attendance statistics which show that class sizes are increasing, Cllr Teresa Heritage, Vice Chairman of the LGA’s Children and Young People Board, said:
“Councils have a strong track record of doing everything they can to rise to the challenge of ensuring no child goes without a place and as many pupils as possible are allocated their first preference, having created more than 800,000 new places since 2010.
”However, it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep up with demand.
“Councils have a legal duty to ensure capacity but need powers to open new schools or direct academies to expand. This is the best way to ensure as many children as possible get the places they want.”