Trusts and councils facing falling rolls should not sell their sites, which could instead house other public services, the boss of the Department for Education’s property arm has said.
Lara Newman, chief executive of LocatED, warned a Westminster Education Forum webinar today that government would find it “very difficult” to re-acquire sites in some areas if pupil numbers rise again.
Her warning comes despite the fact her organisation has been commissioned by the DfE to check out hundreds of sites with “underutilised land”. Schools Week revealed last week how LocatED is due to issue advice on selling off land to fund vital rebuilds.
A drop in the birth rate since the early 2010s has left primary schools struggling to fill places, with the number of reception-age children due to drop by 760,747 between 2022 and 2032.
