YP Comment: Time for a change in policy over schools

THERE is no little irony in the fact that Labour is seeking to score political points over the Government with regard to the school places crisis. It was the unchecked immigration permitted during the party's years in power that contributed to the problem that exists today.
By The Newsroom
Published 15th Jan 2016, 06:00 BST

By 2011, the number of births in the UK had jumped by nearly a fifth in the space of a decade. Such figures underlined the shortsightedness of Labour-run councils such as Leeds which embarked on a programme of school closures around the turn of the Millennium.

Nevertheless, the Local Government Association has a point when it says that the current status quo in which local authorities are powerless to provide new schools where they are needed cannot continue.

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As this year’s deadline for primary school applications approaches, the upshot of this policy is that many youngsters cannot go to their local school as it is oversubscribed and an increasing number of schools are forced to admit up to 90 new children each year.

It is understandable that the Government wishes to preserve the sanctity of its academies programme and give autonomous schools every chance to flourish, but the same rules must apply to everyone when it comes to ensuring there are sufficient places in the system so that parents, no matter where they live, can access a good school.

It is not enough to rely on desperate parents or well-meaning sponsors to come forward and fill the void with free schools. If town halls have the responsibility of ensuring sufficient school places exist then they must also have the powers needed to achieve this.

Related topics:GovernmentLabourLeeds