Town Hall pursuing cross-council campaign to halt Islington school closures

Highbury Quadrant parents, teachers and children march in protest. Photograph: Josef Steen. Free to use by partners of the Local Democracy Reporting Service

Islington Council has confirmed it is exploring ways to force change from the government in how schools are funded, amid a slew of closures across the capital.

Last month, union representatives met with Islington council officers following direct action over the looming shutdown of two primary schools in the borough.

The council has proposed closing Highbury Quadrant and St Jude and St Paul’s schools due to falling pupil rolls and growing budget deficits – triggering walkouts from teachers and pupils determined to keep their doors open.

Against this backdrop, the local authority confirmed it is “looking into” ways it can collaborate with other councils in lobbying the government to prevent any more closures.

This includes having discussions with London’s mayor, Sir Sadiq Khan, and the Department for Education (DfE) around reforming overall policy for inner London schools.

A council spokesperson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that it was “too early to say whether other councils are on board, but it’s something we’re looking into”.

Terry Sullivan, a teacher and co-secretary of the local National Education Union (NEU) branch, told the LDRS he welcomed the opportunity to join forces with the council to “put pressure on those who hold the purse strings”.

“As far as I know, [it was] the first meeting of anything of that sort nationally,  and to be fair to the council, they initiated it,” he said.

“We know they don’t want to close the schools. These are essentially Labour councils having to do so because they’re being forced to by the straitjacket imposed by a Labour government in office.”

Like other local authorities, Islington has argued that falling rolls pose a severe threat to the financial sustainability of schools, as under the national funding formula (NFF) schools get less money if fewer pupils are on the register.

Mr Sullivan said the high number of schools in Islington with only one class per year group or ‘single-form entry’ had put the council in a harder position than others.

“We need to find the money, and there should be a premium for single-form primary schools. There’s no efficiency to scale.”

He suggested the Town Hall keeps a larger “chunk” of dedicated schools grant funding and allocate it to those schools with one class per year group.

But Mr Sullivan added that changing the NFF would be a “huge piece of work” that would take “two or three years”.

The council’s spokesperson confirmed it had scheduled meetings on the issue for the coming weeks, but it was also waiting for the DfE’s proposed white paper on special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and inclusion.

“[This] aims to set out a suite of system reforms, including additional funding for councils and schools,” the spokesperson added.

“Additional investment in the dedicated schools grant system would reduce the financial pressures associated with the SEND and inclusion system, and with running costs for schools more generally.

“We will evaluate the contents of the white paper and consider approaches to the DfE at that point.”

However, the council has also made clear that any attempt to pressure the government for change will not influence current proposals to close St Jude and St Paul’s and Highbury Quadrant.

Regarding these plans, the borough’s lead for children and young people, Cllr Michelline Safi-Ngongo, has said: “We understand that this is a difficult time for families and we are considering their feedback.

“No decision has been made yet but if the decision is made to close the schools, we want to reassure them that we will provide dedicated support to help parents and carers find the right school for their children.

“We have received several proposals suggesting alternative approaches to closing the schools. These will be evaluated and considered.”

Public consultation on the plans ended on 27 March.

Mr Sullivan said: “We must not forget the threat hanging over two Islington schools this year – Highbury Quadrant and St Jude and St Paul’s.

“We will continue to fight to keep them open. We know the council doesn’t want to close schools and we will do our utmost to try and get them to do the right thing.”