URL: https://moderngov.lambeth.gov.uk/ieDecisionDetails.aspx?ID=10010

Decision Maker: Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Families

Outcome:

Is Key Decision?: Yes

Is Callable In?: No

Purpose: Lambeth faces a significant challenge due to falling primary school rolls, with over 4,000 unfilled places across the borough’s primary schools. In, an effort to sustain the quality of education and ensure the long-term viability of efficient schools, a series of school closures and amalgamations were approved at the Formal Cabinet meeting in November 2024. These included the proposed closure of Fenstanton Primary School and Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School. Both schools had experienced some of the most severe declines in pupil numbers in the borough; for example, only five families selected Holy Trinity as their first preference for Reception in 2025. As part of the closure proposals, Cabinet agreed to a 'modification', a provision to consider a viable and workable amalgamation proposal from the governing body of Holy Trinity and Fenstanton. However, in May 2025, Lambeth identified that this modification was likely to be unlawful. Furthermore, even if lawful, the governing body proposal failed to adequately address the critical issues of their falling pupil numbers and financial unsustainability and therefore would not have been appropriate based on its merits. Subsequently, the Southwark Diocesan Board of Education (SDBE) referred the matter to the Office of the Schools Adjudicator (OSA). On 17 July 2025, the OSA published its decision, concluding that the proposals were unlawful and that since there were no valid closure proposals, both schools should remain open. Regarding the proposed amalgamation, the OSA agreed with the Council that the governing body of a community school does not have the legal authority under the Education and Inspections Act (EIA) 2006 to propose its own closure, specifically referencing Fenstanton Primary School. The OSA did not rule on the educational merits of the closure proposals. However, on 12 May 2025 and without engaging in the statutory consultation process, the Diocese unexpectedly published a separate proposal to establish a new voluntary aided primary school in Lambeth, effectively intended to replace Fenstanton and Holy Trinity and to be situated on the Holy Trinity site. The Diocese failed to consult before publishing its proposals, as required by the EIA, or publish all the statutory information required to accompany such a proposal as required by regulations under the EIA. Despite the Council highlighting these and other legal deficiencies in a letter to the Diocese dated 14 May 2025, the Diocese has continued to pursue this unlawful course of action. The Council is concerned that this latest proposal is creating significant confusion among local parents and school communities. This report outlines the legal and procedural deficiencies of the Diocese’s third proposal and recommends that the Council does not approve the proposal, on the grounds that it is both unlawful and inappropriate

Content: To reject the Diocese’s proposal to establish a new Voluntary Aided Church of England Primary School in Lambeth.  

Date of Decision: August 6, 2025