A Liberal Democrat councillor has claimed a lack of affordable housing is to blame for Southwark’s school crisis.
After gaining exclusive access to a council briefing paper last month, the News revealed that sixteen primary schools are in a budget deficit due to falling admissions.
At the Council Assembly on Wednesday, July 13, Cllr Rachel Bentley tabled an amendment noting that: “The lack of affordable housing, along with the cost of living emergency, is a key factor forcing families out of the borough, leaving schools under-filled and at risk of closure.”
The amendment was an addition to a motion regarding St Francesca Cabrini Primary, itself on the brink of closure.
http://southwarknews.co.uk/news/education/honor-oaks-st-francesca-cabrini-primary-school-could-close-after-nuns-announce-plans-to-move-to-africa/
Southwark’s Labour run council has previously accepted that expensive housing is a cause of falling admissions, but also points to Brexit, Covid and declining birth rates.
Cllr Bentley, representative for North Bermondsey ward, said in her amendment: “The council has failed to foster communities that are attractive to families; building over green spaces and cutting funding for youth services by 82% between 2010 and 2020.”
The amendment urged the council to “address the causes of declining pupil numbers” by requiring developers to provide 50% genuinely affordable housing on all private developments.
http://southwarknews.co.uk/featured/exclusive-the-fight-is-on-to-help-sixteen-cash-strapped-primary-schools/
It also demanded that the council “expand and accelerate the council’s buyback scheme for council housing and bring empty homes back into use”.
Her amendment also sought a pledge to “formally protect and enhance Southwark’s green spaces in order to make areas more attractive to families with children.”
Labour rejected the amendment.