School Capital Funding

London Councils are currently experiencing acute pressure on schools capital funding in London.

As of September 2010, London’s boroughs are predicting a collective shortfall in permanent primary school places of more than 28,000 by 2014/15 as a result of the increase in reception pupil numbers. This equates to more than £480 million to ensure every five year-old has a school place over the next five years. The pressure for school places is much greater in London than elsewhere in the country. Local authority data collected by Partnerships for Schools highlights that pupil numbers in London will increase by 13% between 2009/10 and 2014/15 compared to 4% in the rest of England.

The pressures on capital funding are not just at primary level. London local authorities and schools had planned to expand capacity and improve their facilities in advance of this increase in demand for places reaching secondary schools in the next 5 years through the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme. London Councils data shows that BSF funding was due to provide around half of the new forms of entry required in boroughs with stopped projects. The cancellation of this programme leaves the future of many of these projects and London’s capacity to deal with this future increase in demand in doubt.

London Councils has written to Michael Gove MP urging him to reconsider investing in these schools now, through a new programme of capital investment, given the high levels of deprivation, poor facilities and high demand for places in London.