Responding to the education announcement on selective schools by
the Education Secretary today, Cllr , Chair of the Local
Government Association’s Children and Young People Board,
said:
“Councils are clear that they must have a say over whether or not
selective schools are introduced in non-selective areas. As
champions of local families and children, councils should have a
say on the type of school introduced to their area. This should
not be left to individual free school proposers.
“To ensure new schools are established in the right places and
meet the needs of local communities, councils must have a role in
determining where new free schools are created. Local
authorities know their areas best and are eager to work with
applicants with a strong track record to identify potential
school sites.
“Councils have a statutory duty to ensure every child has a
school place available to them but are under extreme pressure to
accommodate rapidly rising numbers of pupils looking for a place.
With 91 per cent of maintained schools now rated as either
outstanding or good by Ofsted, now is the time for government to
recognise councils as its education improvement partners.
“We agree that no child should be without a place but 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.
“The LGA is ready to work constructively with the Department for
Education to ensure all children have the school places they
need.”
