However the Labour opposition’s calls for a full council debate on the issue were voted down, reports James Cracknell
A consultation on whether to close three schools in Enfield has been delayed after a committee ordered the Conservative administration to reconsider its decision – and fix a number of “errors” in a report.
Last night (Tuesday 3rd) Enfield Council’s overview and scrutiny committee spent more than two hours debating the proposals to consult on closing Bishop Stopford’s School, Suffolks Primary School and Starks Field Primary School, as scores of parents and staff watched in the public gallery.
The Labour opposition group had submitted a ‘call in’ request to try to force the council to reconsider, claiming there was “inaccurate” information in the report the decision was based on.
However, while Conservative committee members agreed the issue should be sent back to cabinet for further consideration, they didn’t support Labour’s additional call for a full council debate involving all councillors.
The night had begun with a protest by parents, pupils and school staff outside Enfield Civic Centre, with many calling for the impact of school closures on children with special educational needs and disabilities (Send) to be recognised – particularly at Suffolks, which has two specialist autism units alongside its mainstream classes.
Enfield North MP Feryal Clark, who joined the protest, told the Dispatch: “Suffolks is doing exactly what the government’s Send reforms are recommending – it’s an inclusive mainstream model, and the council should be looking at how it can support the school.”
Inside the civic centre, the debate began with the committee’s Green chair Sarah Jons acknowledging the “great deal of anxiety around school closures” and reminding councillors to be mindful this was about “children’s education, staff and communities”.
Labour councillor Ian Barnes, who led the call-in request, claimed the council’s report on the proposed school closures “contained serious flaws and inaccuracies” which were “unforgivable”.
“Why were the figures not up to date and accurate before the decision was made?” he asked.
Cllr Barnes also queried why Send provision at Suffolks had been expanded as recently as this summer. “Families were offered hope and the prospect of stability and yet now the school is facing closure.”
All three school headteachers addressed the committee.
Bishop Stopford’s headteacher Tammy Day asked councillors to “consider whether the decision is supported by comprehensive and valid evidence”, claiming the viability assessments it was based on ignored academic performance and educational quality. “These factors are fundamental to assessing the future of our school,” she said.
Suffolks headteacher Andrea Cassius had similar concerns and claimed the council “made its decision based on flawed information”. The school, she said, had already doubled its Send provision and was planning to expand further, with a projected 96 special needs pupils by 2029.
Suffolks was also reducing its annual deficit with an aim to set a balanced budget within two years, Andrea explained. “We want a fair hearing,” she told councillors.
Starks Field headteacher Melissa Davies Oliveck also spoke and said her “greatest concern” was “what will happen to our children with Send”, who she said accounted for nearly one-in-five of the school’s pupils.
“I recognise a difficult decision needs to be made,” said Melissa, “but the process must be transparent and children put at the centre of it.”
Council leader Alessandro Georgiou tried to reassure them the council had “made no pre-determined decision” but did apologise “unreservedly” for the way the news about potential school closures had been revealed over the summer – after being published on the council’s website before affected schools had been warned.
But Cllr Georgiou claimed the Labour opposition had leapt on the issue in order to “whip up” staff and parents around opposing the closures when “there are multiple options outlined in the report”. Later, the Tory leader again blamed his Labour predecessors – from whom he took over the council leadership in May – for being “political cowards” in not tackling the issue of declining pupil numbers across Enfield’s schools sooner.
Peter Nathan, the council’s director of education, addressed the claims around flawed figures. Apparently acknowledging some information used was out of date, he said that data “was taken from the January census last year – and we know that they change”.
He continued: “I take some points on board, but we need to recognise numbers change. Myself and my colleagues have worked with the schools for many years – this is not a personal issue, it is to do with the number of pupils.”
Peter later gave a wider perspective of the situation, pointing out that Enfield’s birth rate had declined significantly over the past few years. A decade ago, he said, 5,000 pupils in the borough were starting school every year, but that number was now down to 3,300.
“That is massive,” he said. “It has a huge impact and it affects the whole borough.”
Regarding the £1.68million financial deficit across the three schools proposed for closure, Peter added: “It is a considerable deficit. The decision that officers brought to cabinet has strong evidence. It is not something the council wants to do but we are looking at the needs of the borough as a whole.
“This is the beginning of a conversation with a range of options.”
Asked why other factors such as school performance were not considered in the cabinet report, Peter said every school in Enfield was “either good or outstanding” which meant any closure proposal would inevitably include a high-performing school.
He said that while they could have still looked at it, ultimately “pupil numbers drive a school’s income, and if you have low numbers, you have a problem on your hands”.
Asked what would happen to Send pupils if their school closed, Peter said the council had “an extremely good track record” in terms of Send with “fantastic provision” and plans to expand capacity.
“We’re far ahead of most local authorities in driving our Send provision and I am very proud of this,” Peter said. “We are confident, if we ever get to that point [of closing a school] there will be provision.
“We do really care about what happens, it is not something we embark upon lightly. We will work with parents.”
He added: “There is an issue with parental choice, that requires a lot of work, but we are prepared for it.”
Cllr Barnes ended the discussion by urging the committee to support his call for “councillors to have their say” through a debate at full council, but Cllr Georgiou said now was not the right time, and that the consultation should happen first.
The council leader did, however, pledge that his officers would provide a response to the “complete list of inaccuracies” before launching the consultation.
When it came to the vote, Green chair Cllr Jons voted the same way as the Conservative committee members – against giving full council a chance to debate the decision, but in favour of referring it back to cabinet for further consideration.
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