Briefings and responses

While councils have a statutory duty to ensure there is a school place for every child, they are currently not able to direct academies to expand school places or admit individual pupils. We are seeking a commitment from Government redress this discrepancy between councils’ duties and powers as soon as reasonably possible, by providing councils with sufficient backstop powers to direct academies to expand school places and admit individual pupils, within six months of the Act passing.

Councils have a crucial role to play in education, from ensuring every child has a school place to turning around struggling schools, which they demonstrated when providing vital support to schools during the pandemic.

The LGA supports the focus on ensuring all children get the right support at the right time, particularly in the context of the impact of the pandemic and the widening attainment gap. The amount of funding made available to support education catch-up must be kept under review to ensure every child has the support they need to learn, and to support their broader development and wellbeing.

On 28 March the Government published the ‘Opportunity for all Strong schools with great teachers for your child’ White Paper.

The LGA shares the Department for Education’s (DfE’s) belief that good attendance at school plays a vital role in children’s development and for their well-being.

Councils retain the majority of their legal obligations to promote high educational standards in their areas and the Department for Education (DfE) should therefore continue to provide funding to ensure these obligations can be met. It is wrong to ask schools, who have their own budgetary pressures, to fund councils for their school improvement functions.

Three-quarters of mental health problems first emerge before the age of 25, so it makes sense economically to invest in mental health support for young people, as well as making a huge difference to people’s lives.

Good quality early education makes a difference to children’s lives. Pre-school has almost as much impact on a child’s education achievement as primary school does – and the impact is even greater for those at risk of developing learning difficulties. Recent policy changes have extended the reach of early education to more children and for longer. They have also supported more parents into work, or to work more hours.

It is vital that vulnerable children, who have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, are the focus of this programme of work. In their role as leaders of local education systems, councils can bring together partners, join up local efforts to promote education recovery.

Councils have been supporting all schools throughout the pandemic, including working to support vulnerable pupils and interpreting guidance to help ensure learning has continued as safely and effectively as possible .