DfE issues guidance for local authorities on pupil planning areas

Local authorities have a duty under section 14 of the Education Act 1996 to ensure that sufficient schools are available for their area to provide primary and secondary education.

Each year, the department collects information on school places from local authorities as part of the annual SCAP collection.

Local authorities are required to provide, for each school within each pupil planning area (PA), information about the number of registered pupils and the capacity of schools in their area.

The guidance states local authorities should:

• ensure that pupil planning area data reported for the SCAP collection is a “true and accurate reflection” of the need for school places;
• structure pupil planning areas in accordance with the general principles laid out in the guidance;
• obtain approval from the Department for Education for proposals to structurally change or create pupil planning areas for use in the SCAP data collection process.

Basic Need capital funding allocations are made to local authorities to help fund new pupil places by expanding existing schools (maintained schools, free schools or academies) and by establishing new schools.

Allocation decisions made by the department are based principally on data collected from local authorities via the annual SCAP collection.

The DfE noted: “Decisions on the need for and the location of new schools or school expansions will not be made entirely on the basis of the data collected through SCAP. However, accurate data using appropriate PA structures help ensure decisions are well-informed.”

The full guidance can be read here.

Lottie Winson