Title

'The Government listens to local government' is not a headline we read as often as we might like. But London Councils' campaign on primary school places funding is certainly one example of where some listening has taken place, and has resulted in funding that will make a real difference to local communities. We are very pleased that the report we launched in May – Do the maths – has led to the Government finding £200m extra funding to support local authorities facing the greatest pressure on school places. This won't cover the total shortfalls being experienced – in the capital we need almost four times this amount – but it is a start, in terms of supporting local authorities to provide all their four and five-year-old children with a school place. The focus now moves to each affected authority making their case to the Government for their share of this funding. Before we leave this phase of the campaign, however, there are a couple of things to reflect on. First, it really helped that the campaign we mounted could not be simply written off as blind assertion, or councils whingeing. Being able to clearly set out the reasons for the shortfall in places was vital. Second, there is the question of how flexible our funding arrangements can be in responding to emerging issues, such as one like this. The shortage of primary school places in London is tied up with the recession and, in particular, how, in a stagnant housing market, parents have not been able to move to areas outside the capital. This is clearly something that couldn't be easily planned for in the three-year funding settlement – but the mechanisms available to us to make up shortfalls in funding really haven't worked. The Government's existing emergency valve funding could not work quickly enough or bring forward the amount of funding needed to expand schools at the level needed. The plight of so many local authorities in London being on the funding floor also meant that supported borrowing was out of the question. So, the final option left to councils was to generate income from the sale of land or property – not likely to yield previously-assumed values in the current financial climate, and also not that likely to bring forward the level of funding required. We are discussing with the Department for Children, Schools and Families how this issue of flexibility could be addressed in future. This is far from being a call to rip up our finance system. I think most of us would agree that three-year settlements are, on the whole, a good thing. But experience has shown that there should be greater flexibility within that arrangement to help deal with situations such as this. John O'Brien is chief executive of London Councils

Title

FINANCE

Plugged In: now hear this

SUBSCRIBE TO CONTINUE READING