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3 hours ago
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Classrooms left empty by falling numbers of pupils could soon be converted into youth clubs or health centres, as part of a pilot scheme to be announced this week.
In the pilot a group of local authorities in England will be given £3.1m by the Department for Education to fund their initial plans for repurposing empty school buildings or unused facilities into community assets, with the first conversions expected to be up and running next year.
The policy is an attempt to tackle the surplus of school spaces created by the long-term fall in the number of children joining primary and secondary schools across England, with 800 primary schools expected to shut by 2029-30, according to one forecast.
Six councils have signed up to the pilot, with the DfE targeting areas with both high proportions of surplus places and a need for community facilities such as family hubs. Birmingham, Nottingham, Lincolnshire, West Sussex and the London boroughs of Croydon and Lambeth are in the initial group, with more expected to join after the scheme is launched in the autumn.
The DfE said the six councils “were selected from across England to reflect a mix of communities, helping government test different approaches to making the best use of surplus school space where it can have the biggest impact.
“Each area will develop proposals reflecting local needs, helping build an evidence base for how schools can continue serving communities even where pupil numbers have fallen.”
Josh MacAlister, the minister for children and families, said: “As birthrates fall and pupil numbers change, this government is taking action to help schools and councils make the most of spare space in schools for the benefit of local families and communities.
“Through this pilot, we will give a new lease of life to empty classrooms by transforming them into youth clubs, family hubs and other local services – making sure that school buildings continue working for children, parents and communities for years to come.”
A spokesperson for the Local Government Association said: “Councils would be keen to support any use of unused school space and would work with local residents and schools to ensure they benefit communities. We look forward to seeing further details of the proposals.”
The number of children in England under the age of 16 is expected to shrink by 6% over the next decade. Primary school pupil numbers have fallen by 85,000 since 2019 and are forecast to fall by a further 205,000 by 2028, according to the National Foundation for Education Research.
London has been the hardest-hit region, with the capital having nine of the 10 local authorities with the largest declines in primary school pupils. Islington, Lambeth and Southwark are expected to have the steepest declines in numbers over the next four years, while boroughs such as Camdenalready have falling demand for secondary school places.
Outside London, rural and coastal communities such as Lincolnshire are also seeing sustained falls.
The sharp decline has raised fears that councils or authorities could sell off school properties, leaving those areas vulnerable to school shortages in the future if the demographic tide changes.
The National Audit Office recently criticised the government for having “no clear approach” to help schools or local authorities handle the sharp decline in numbers. But the DfE is encouraging schools and local authorities to use spare capacity to expand school-based nurseries, and has allocated funding to create more places in mainstream schools for children with special educational needs and disabilities.
The results from the pilot will feed in to further proposals from the DfE to be published this year.
