Along with councillors Jacob Taylor and Lucy Helliwell who co-chair the children, families and schools committee, I have attended public consultation meetings to hear from parents and staff directly.
We know this is very upsetting for the communities concerned and we have heard many and varied genuine concerns. We know there is also some confusion and misunderstanding surrounding the proposals and so I want to address some of the key issues head on.
Proposing to close schools is a nightmare situation and as an administration we would not be putting forward these proposals if we believed there were other workable solutions. While no final decisions have been made, we are in extremely difficult territory with the options available to us.
The reason we are proposing to close two schools and reduce the admission numbers at a further nine schools is because there has been a drop in the birth rate in the city of over 20 per cent. In Brighton and Hove we have too many primary school places for the number of children in the city. This is having a direct impact on the budgets of schools in the city but most importantly it narrows the educational offer to all children which in turn disproportionately affects those who most need additional support at school.
St Bartholomew’s and St Peter’s are the two primary schools with the lowest number of pupils. They both have large financial deficits. In both cases there is no prospect pupil numbers will increase in future years, they are projected to fall further.
The funding provided to schools by central government is predominantly led by pupil numbers. Therefore, the fewer pupils a school has, the less funding they receive and the fewer staff that can be employed and as a result more work is undertaken by fewer staff, with reduced resources. While it is a fair assumption that small class sizes benefit children, unfortunately due to schools being funded on a per pupil basis, every empty classroom seat is increasing debt in school budgets.
We recognise that schools are so much more than places of learning, they are also community hubs, places of safety and stability and often an extension of family life, particularly for more marginalised pupils. It’s where friendships are formed and many first steps in life take place. They equip our children with the support, confidence, education and skills they need to set them up for life.
We truly understand why people are asking us to look to find a way that doesn’t result in closure or PAN reductions. We also recognise that these schools serve diverse communities including high numbers of global majority pupils at St Bartholomew’s,and those with SEN needs and intersectional needs at both St Bartholomew’s and St Peter’s schools. We are listening to all the concerns and contributions raised and will consider all feedback before taking any decisions. We will also work hard to mitigate the impact of the decisions made to ensure support for those affected.
Some have said these consultations are being rushed. Sadly the reverse is true. Action was needed a long time ago and now the council only has limited options available to address this issue.
Nationally, the Conservative government’s approach to education has created an underfunded, fragmented, academised system which diminishes our ability to shape our local schools system in the way our city needs.
This compounds our schools’ crisis. The city’s primary headteachers wrote to us earlier this year explaining that without leadership from our administration we would be failing the children who most need our schools to be properly resourced. So we have brought forward a package of proposals which takes a balanced approach, minimising the need for closures as far as possible, and presenting proposals that balance the needs of our communities across the city.
With over half our schools in licensed deficit, if we allowed the status quo to continue it could potentially tip the council over the edge – and everyone would lose out if government inspectors were brought in to make decisions for the city. Our manifesto said “A Labour council will use what money is available to keep schools open.” And that is what we are proposing. Longer term and under a future Labour government we need adequate funding, and fundamental reform of how local authorities are able to strategically manage schools to the benefit of all our children.
Bella Sankey is the Labour leader of Brighton and Hove City Council
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