Response from Steph Rhodes, Lancashire County Council
1. Steph Rhodes, Lancashire County Council : 13 Jan 2016 12:35:00
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Hi
Please find attached initial comments from the School Planning Team – I look forward to providing additional information throughout the process:
Response to Arnside and Silverdale AONB Issues and Options November 2015
In response to Arnside and Silverdale AONB Issues and Options, I would like to thank you for the opportunity to be involved in this process.
Overall Summary
Section 14 of the education act 1996 dictates that Lancashire County Council's statutory obligation is to ensure that every child living in Lancashire is able to access a mainstream school place in Lancashire. Some children have Special Educational Needs for which they access school provision outside of Lancashire. The Strategy for the provision of school places and school's capital investment 2015/16 to 2017/18 provides the context and policy for school place provision and schools' capital strategy in Lancashire. Over the next three years, Lancashire County Council and its partners will need to address a range of issues around school organisation in order to maintain a coherent system that is fit for purpose, stable, and delivering the best possible outcomes for children and young people.
The main issues to be addressed are:
• The urgent need to provide additional primary and secondary places in some
parts of the county;
• The sufficiency of suitable education provision for children with special
education needs and children who require alternative provision within County;
• The need to keep under review, and take appropriate action where necessary,
the fall in secondary school numbers; and
• Continuing to support the educational viability of the high proportion of small
schools in the county, where appropriate.
Where new housing development creates a demand for school places in excess of
those available, Lancashire County Council will expect district councils to work with
Lancashire County Council in seeking a financial contribution from the developers
that is proportionate to impact in order to mitigate against the effect of any new
development on local infrastructure. It is critical that developers make a financial
contribution to school places as, without one, Lancashire County Council will be
unable to deliver the required provision and this will impact on the children and
families that come to settle in new developments.
The team produces an Education Methodology document which outlines the Lancashire County Council methodology for assessing the likely impact of new developments and, where necessary to mitigate this impact.
The impact of any housing development is assessed, with Primary school aged pupil accessing a school within 2 miles and a secondary school aged pupil within 3 miles. This is reflected within Lancashire County Councils Home to School Transport Policy.
Pressure for additional school places can be created by an increase in the birth rate, new housing developments, greater inward migration and parental choice of one school over another. If local schools are unable to meet this demand, a new development can have an adverse impact on the infrastructure of its local community.
Planning Obligations will be sought for education places where Lancashire primary schools within 2 miles and/or Lancashire secondary schools within 3 miles of the development are:
• Already over-subscribed,
• Projected to become over-subscribed within 5 years, or
• One of the major challenges in providing new places is the lack of current school sites capable of supporting expansion.
If a large new housing development is proposed (more than 150 houses), it may not be feasible to expand existing schools. In such cases, Lancashire County Council will undertake an initial assessment on whether a site may be required, taking into account the existing provision in the area. If the development is large enough to justify the possibility of a new school, the developer may be asked to contribute a suitable school site as part of the development. Where a number of small developments are expected to come forward in an area with an aggregated requirement for a new school, Lancashire County Council would expect the local planning authority to assist in the negotiations to secure a school site.
In the case of the provision of a school site Lancashire County Council would expect to be consulted on the location of the school site to ensure its suitability. The size of this site would be determined in accordance with DfE guidance.
