Senior councillors again back school closures consultation – 24 hours after being told to reconsider

The Conservative-led cabinet made the decision despite a scrutiny committee asking for “errors” to be fixed before the consultation starts, reports Joe Ives, Local Democracy Reporter

Suffolks, Starks Field and Bishop Stopford's are all proposed for closure — Suffolks, Starks Field and Bishop Stopford’s are all proposed for closure

Enfield Council’s Conservative administration has – for the second time in a month – agreed to go ahead with a consultation on the potential closure of three schools.

The decision made at a cabinet meeting last night (Wednesday 4th) came just 24 hours after the council’s overview and scrutiny committee ordered cabinet to reconsider the approval it had first given for the consultation in October – in part because of a number of “errors” in a report.

It means a consultation on the futures of Bishop Stopford’s School in Caterhatch ward, the adjacent Suffolks Primary School, as well as Starks Field Primary School in Edmonton, will now go ahead from Monday (9th) for six weeks.

All three schools are predicted to be operating at less than 50% capacity within three years, fuelling financial concerns at the council, with its education budget largely dependent on pupil numbers.

The total annual deficit for the three schools currently stands at £1.68million.

In a fresh report on the proposed closures, Neil Best, the council’s head of education, strategic resourcing and partnership, explained: “Enfield is experiencing profound demographic change that has fundamentally reshaped demand for school places across the borough.”

The council says this has been fuelled by a decline of the birth rate in Enfield, which has fallen from “approximately 5,000 annually” in 2016 to 3,578 by 2024 – a reduction of “approximately 28%”.

Nevertheless, speaking ahead of yesterday’s decision council leader Alessandro Georgiou urged officers and cabinet members “to remind the public of Enfield and those schools impacted by this consultation, this is not a discussion about closure”.

On Tuesday (3rd), parents and school staff, joined by Enfield North Labour MP Feryal Clark, gathered outside Enfield Civic Centre to protest the potential closures ahead of the scrutiny debate.

Many called 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.

On Wednesday, Cllr Georgiou attempted to offer reassurance, saying: “There are various options, which some people conveniently forget to look at in the original report and in the update from officers.”

Tuesday’s scrutiny meeting came about following a call-in request led by Labour councillor Ian Barnes. Cllr Barnes claimed the council’s report on the proposed school closures “contained serious flaws and inaccuracies” which were “unforgivable”.

Peter Nathan, the council’s director of education, acknowledged some information used was out of date, saying that data “was taken from the January census last year – and we know that they change”.

A report with updated information was hastily put together ahead of the council’s cabinet meeting yesterday. Speaking ahead of the decision, Cllr Georgiou said: “As far as I’m concerned, we’ve provided accurate information – as much information as possible.”

Nevertheless, he welcomed further updates “if the schools feel the data is inaccurate” during the consultation process.

Turning attention to his critics, the Conservative leader said: “It is incredibly disappointing for me when colleagues across the chamber decide to play politics with the lives of parents, students and staff.

“What’s even more bitterly disappointing is those same councillors, and a member of parliament, that hurled a lot of abuse our way, couldn’t even be bothered to turn up to make a deputation [to cabinet] on an issue they allegedly felt so strongly about.”

The cabinet subsequently greed to “maintain” the decision it had originally made on 14th October, to approve the consultation.

Members were at pains to reaffirm the council’s wish to receive feedback “on credible alternatives to closure” through the consultation process, which has been given a budget “of up to £150,000”.

A consultation will also be carried out “with the relevant stakeholders, parents, staff, governors, diocesan authorities, trade unions, neighbouring local authorities and other interested parties”.

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