27th March 2014 9:00
By Blue Tutors
Local councils have warned that England will face a severe shortage in secondary schools places within 5 years. Figures suggest that 49 out of 152 councils will not be able to offer places to all pupils by the year 2019, provoking criticism of the Department of Education’s handling of school places. The Local Government Association has said that 80,716 new secondary school places will be required within 5 years, and expressed concern that current funding will not cover the cost of the number of places required.
The Department for Education has maintained that it has provided local authorities with the funding required for new places, but warned that it was up to them to spend the money efficiently and effectively. Speaking to local authorities, a Department for Education Spokesman said that they had pledged £5bn to spend on new school places, and that there were now already 260,000 new schools places in areas of need. They also announced a further £2bn in funds for places to cover need up until 2017.
However, the Local Government Authority has said that there remains a crisis in the schools systems, and that councils are already having to take extraordinary measures to deal with rising demand for places. They pointed out that one council was forced to borrow £35m privately in order to fund the extension of schools to cope with rising demand from students. They have said that in the primary school sector alone, 130,000 new places are required within 5 years. The LGA’s children’s board have urged the government to act, pointing out that as greater numbers go through primary school, more places will be required at secondary school in order to accommodate them when they arrive.