Liverpool Council is “clutching at every bit of land” it can get as it struggles to meet the demands for school places.
Jonathan Jones, director of education and skills, told councillors that the city will face a shortfall in places for young people for the next six years as the local authority grapples with an increasing number of pupils. Amid the ongoing debate about the future of the former fruit and veg site in Old Swan that Liverpool Council has made available for educational use, Mr Jones said the authority needed four new locations to meet demand.
Last month, the council’s executive confirmed the Prescot Road location will be made available for the building of either a new free school and/or a new primary school after complaints were raised by officials involved with the nearby St Anne (Stanley) Primary School. Cllr Tom Logan, cabinet member for education and skills, said “absolutely no decision has been made” on the site.
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He added: “We need to be looking at two sites, it’s taken that long to find one. That search is ongoing.” However, Mr Jones went one step further, saying the council ideally needed to expand its net further.
He said: “We really need to be looking at four sites. We’ve got a massive shortfall of secondary school places in 2023 and that will continue for six years.
“We’re clutching at every bit of land we can get for educational places.” In his report to education committee members, Cllr Logan said: “The challenges facing our city with regard to pupil places are wide and different for different areas of the city.
“I want to ensure that children can access school places in the proximity of their local community.” At Liverpool Town Hall, the Princes Park Labour member said he felt planning for the impending problems had not been arranged correctly.
He said: “We were told for some time that De La Salle would be closing so discussions didn’t really start until April, May, on sites. I don’t think long term planning was done properly.”
The city is also facing pressure from young people coming from outside Liverpool. Mr Jones wrote in a report that in 2021/22, 1,571 were placed in schools across the city out of more than 2,000 applications.
The majority of those were in primary schools, with a third going to secondary. More than 5,000 residents applied for a year 7 place for 2022, representing an increase of 315 from last year.
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