1st May 2009
By David Williams
Campaigners calling on the government to fund an urgent expansion of primary schools are confident that they are winning support in Parliament.
Jo Mennell of London Councils, whose report, Do the maths, launched the campaign when it was published on April 20, said there was cross-party agreement on the scale and nature of the problem.
London Councils, which is lobbying for more money to help local authorities meet soaring demand for reception class places, held a meeting for MPs and peers at the House of Commons on April 28.
Public Finance understands that while officials from the Department for Children, Schools and Families observed the session, no ministers took part in discussions.
Mennell described the atmosphere as ‘buoyant’ and said the group was planning a follow-up meeting. ‘Since we launched our campaign, many MPs have become more clued-up on the issue. They are coming up with their own case studies,’ she said.
‘We have agreed that there’s a big problem with primary school places and we need to… address the issue, in the interests of children across the country.’
The DCSF is yet to comment on Mennell’s report, despite promising to read it ‘with interest’.
Mennell said: ‘I hope we get to the stage where we can work together with the DCSF so we can get round a table and say we have a problem… We should all put our hands up and say we didn’t see it coming.’
According to Do the maths, 18,300 children will be without a reception class place in London by 2014 unless £740m is invested in expanding primary school provision.
