School catchment areas in Brighton and Hove are due to be reviewed this year because of the continuing fall in pupil numbers.
And while the empty places have been an issue for primary schools so far, from next year secondary schools are expected to start being affected by falling numbers.
The Labour deputy leader of Brighton and Hove City Council, Jacob Taylor, said that it was a suitable issue for scrutiny because the cabinet would be looking at schools organisation again in the autumn.
The council currently maintains 2,560 state secondary school places but expects to need only 2,279 in 2025.
Councillor Taylor told the first meeting of the council’s People Overview and Scrutiny Committee today (Tuesday 9 July) that forecasts showed that this number would drop to 2,000 secondary school places by 2030.
From September next year, the council plans to change its admissions policy to give a higher priority to pupils receiving free school meals when choosing a secondary school.
Schools are funded “per pupil” and, with falling numbers affecting primary schools, Councillor Taylor said that this had led to “some difficult action”.
Since 2019, the council has reduced admissions to reception classes and this year two primaries are due to close – St Bartholomew’s, in Brighton, and St Peter’s, in Portslade.
Councillor Taylor said that he wanted to keep the current geographic spread of schools and to ensure that the two secondaries east of Lewes Road stayed open.
Green councillor Sue Shanks said that something had to be done about catchment areas. She said: “It got dodged when it was last due to happen. I think it would be very important to look at that together.
“What happens, as I know very well, is as soon as you start mentioning catchment areas, everybody panics that their child won’t get into Dorothy Stringer. We do need to make sure we are all informed on that.”
Councillor Taylor said that he had discussed bringing the subject to the overview and scrutiny committee with the chair, Labour councillor Jackie O’Quinn.
He said: “Schools organisation and catchments would be a very good topic for scrutiny to look at in future months in terms of timing.
“We’re considering it now and it will likely be a topic that will come up fairly soon in the autumn term.”
The next People Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting is scheduled for Wednesday 16 October.
I still maintain that this is primarily a symptom of a social housing stock deficit. In particular, according to the Housing Reports, three bedroom townhouses are of particular value.