Agenda item

Report of the Director of Children’s Services. To be presented by the Cabinet Member for Children, Schools and Families.

The report requests Cabinet determine the proposed admission arrangements for the school year 2026/27.

The Cabinet Member for Children, Schools and Families introduced the report. It was explained that, as a result of a very full consideration of all the available evidence, that the Cabinet Member recommended that Cabinet agree to determine the Council’s admission arrangements for the academic year 2026/27 and that the proposal to reduce the published admission number (PAN) for the primary and secondary schools be agreed.

In response to comments and questions from Cllrs Hakata and Cawley-Harrison, the following information was shared:

·         The Cabinet Member stressed that birth rates across London had decreased significantly, which had led to a substantial decrease in pupil numbers. Officers explained that they had undertaken strategic decisions to plan for future pupil numbers and helped schools to additionally plan for these numbers, including working with school Governing Bodies to potentially redeploy and restructure staff dependant on school pupil numbers.

·         The Cabinet Member explained that work had been undertaken to understand the contributing factors to the reduction of pupil numbers in the borough. It was explained that there were many different factors, including the impact of the housing market on decisions to start a family. It was explained that the Council was undertaking work, wherever possible, to build family homes to help alleviate these limiting factors. Officers explained that officers within the Planning team work closely with Children’s Services Directorate to ensure that school place planning was undertaken effectively and that family housing policies were strengthened wherever possible.

RESOLVED:

That Cabinet:

1. Considered and took into account the feedback from the consultation undertaken.
   
   
2. Considered and took into account the equalities impact assessment of the proposals on protected groups.
   
   
3. Agreed to proceed with the proposal to reduce the published admission number (PAN) for the primary and secondary schools from September 2026.
   
   
4. Agreed the Council’s admission arrangements for the academic year 2026/27.
   
   
5. Agreed Haringey’s fair access protocol to come into force from 1 March 2025.
   
   
6. Agreed that the determined arrangements for all maintained primary and secondary schools in the borough should be published on the Council’s website by 15 March 2025, with an explanation of the right of any person or body, under the School Admissions (Admission Arrangements and Co-ordination of Admission Arrangements) Regulations 2012, to object to the Schools Adjudicator in specified circumstances . 

Reasons for decision

In common with many London authorities, Haringey had been experiencing a decrease in demand for reception school places for several years. The reasons for Haringey’s declining numbers were multifaceted, but included a combination of falling birth rates, changes to welfare benefits, the housing crisis, increases in the cost of living, the withdrawal of the right of entry and freedom of movement from EU nationals (Brexit) and families leaving London during the Covid-19 pandemic. Many of these factors remained outside the Council’s control and are at no fault of the schools or their current leadership.

A report on Managing falling school rolls in London published by London Councils in January 2024 provided some wider context and independent analysis of the issue.

At secondary school level, forecasted demand was also now declining. Demand for Year 7 places between now and the end of the decade was set to decline and fall below the notional existing capacity of 2,628 places. Reductions in secondary capacity should also therefore be undertaken to bolster sustainability across the school estate and ensure the provision of places meets projected demand.

Falling rolls, due to lower birth rates and out-migration rate, demanded changes to the published admission number in recent years whilst Reception place surplus was forecast to grow further. Smaller primary cohorts had also now started to work their way through to the secondary phase and demand for Year 7 places was also declining. The proposals for reductions in PAN are designed to improve schools’ ability to efficiently plan their staffing and educational provision by offering a more accurate number of places.

Alternative options considered

The Council would not be proposing a change to the oversubscription criteria for our community and VC schools for 2026/27. Whilst there were other ways that admission arrangements could influence the allocation of school places set out in the Code (e.g., designated catchment areas, identified feeder schools or giving priority in oversubscription criteria to children eligible for the early years premium/ pupil premium) no alternative option was being considered at the time of writing this report.

The overarching aim was to assist schools in helping to enshrine sustainability and to introduce greater flexibility within the school estate to respond to the increasing rate of variation in population demand. PAN reduction was one of several solutions that schools can explore, and future sustainability can also be achieved through other strengthening partnerships e.g.  soft/hard federations and memorandums of understanding between schools. Some neighbouring London authorities had taken radical measures to address surplus capacity (school closures / amalgamations). Haringey was also currently consulting on options for the future of one of its most at risk primary schools, but this would not impact on the consultation and determination of the admission arrangements for the schools governed by the Local Authority.