Fears scrapping councils could lead to more school closures

James Wilson, Norfolk County Council's director of sufficiency, planning and education strategy (Image: Norfolk County Council)

James Wilson, County Hall's director of education strategy, said Labour's shake-up plans - which would see the county council and the other eight councils in Norfolk axed and replaced with three new ones - could heap further pressure on an already fragile education system.

While many of the 426 schools are now run by academy trusts, some buildings are leased to them by the county council, which would cease to exist by 2028 under the shake-up plans.

And the uncertainty over what will happen to those buildings under the shake-up comes at a time when falling pupil numbers have already led to plans to merge and close schools.

The number of children in Norfolk's education system is expected to fall from a peak of nearly 10,000 in the current year eight to fewer than 7,000 in the 2027 reception intake.

Mr Wilson said: "For me, the challenge here is that the Norfolk education system is already experiencing a huge amount of change at the current time.

"Special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) is one is big challenge but actually the falling number of pupils is the other biggie destabilising a lot of Norfolk schools.

"We are reaching a tipping point, it feels to me and there are more and more schools with every month that passes get to the point where serious conversations are being had about 'is this school sustainable?"

Mr Wilson said the boundaries for the planned new councils - Greater Norwich Council, West Norfolk and East Norfolk - paid no heed to school catchment areas.

He said: "The boundaries cut across catchment areas of lots of Norfolk schools - a good chunk of our secondary schools, as well as quite a few of the primaries.

"Potentially, that could require changes to those catchment boundaries, which could potentially destabilise schools in that way.

"Or it could require changes to school admissions arrangements and forms of collaboration between the future councils to try to keep the same children in the same locations."

He said it could also create problems as to which council was responsible for - and would pay - for home to school transport, with some schools in different council boundaries to the children who go to them.

Mr Wilson said: "The complexity builds and builds. Therefore, the bigger risk is that the education system, which is already quite fragile in some areas, tips from fragile to unsustainable as a result of the complexity and change all at once, rather than just who owns which buildings."

How the councils would look under the government's plans (Image: Future Norfolk)

Officials said it would be difficult to "differentiate the specific impact of government reorganisation from the wider effects".

But they said: " Plainly we can anticipate a growing number of school amalgamations and closures in the coming years as well as more schools joining trusts.

"Any of those changes will have impacts on school estates and liabilities, with assets changing hands and in some cases changing purpose or be deemed surplus."

Norfolk County Council's County Hall headquarters (Image: Mike Page)

The Reform administration at County Hall, which favoured one, rather than three councils, is challenging Labour’s shake-up plans as unlawful.

It hopes to secure a judicial review in the High Court to halt the proposals.