Fury at Lancashire council plan to give priority on school places to the children of teachers in a bid to fill teaching shortages

Parents and Sir Lindsay Hoyle have slammed Lancashire council’s ‘divisive’ plan to fill teaching shortages by giving school places to the children of potential teachers. 

Sir Lindsay, who is Speaker of the House of Commons and MP for Chorley, attacked the Tory-run council for its plan, accusing the authority of failing to provide more school places. 

Lancashire County Council bosses are set to carry out a public consultation over how it allocates places to pupils when a school is oversubscribed.

The idea is that it would help recruit and retain teachers, with thousands going on strike in recent months over pay, and others leaving the profession altogether.

As well as the children of staff, education chiefs are also looking at a level of priority being given to the children of armed forces personnel. 

Labour MP Sir Lindsay told MailOnline: ‘Any form of selection criteria imposed by Lancashire County Council will cause division within communities and leave many parents with a sense of injustice at the way in which school children are selected.

‘The root cause of problems in many parts of Lancashire, including my constituency of Chorley, is the lack of school places. As the education authority Lancashire County Council has not taken action soon enough to plan for population increases.’  

Parents in Blackburn told MailOnline it was unfair that children living outside the catchment area were being given favourable treatment over those who lived just minutes away.

Natalie Conway, 44, a student nurse, said she thought the proposals are ‘very unfair’ 

Ami Alex, 25, a singer and street performer, said she thought the plans were a ‘really bad idea’ 

Daniel Mulla, 25, who works in job security, said: ‘I think it makes a lot of sense allowing children of staff at school to have a place there over others’

Natalie Conway, 44, a student nurse, said: ‘I think the proposals are very unfair and priority shouldn’t be given to those who work at the school. 

‘I’m a student nurse and if any of my family members turned up at A&E requiring treatment, should they be seen to first just because I work there?

‘Of course not. It should be the same for school admissions.’

Ami Alex, 25, a singer and street performer, said: ‘I think it is a really bad idea. I do not believe that any child should be given priority over another.

‘Everyone should be treated equally. I think it is a bit of a silly idea.’

Louise Delve, 55, said: ‘It is penalising other children. What if a child already has a sibling at the school and they miss out on a place because it’s given to a staff member’s child. Their parents would then have to do four school runs a day.

Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Speaker of the House of Commons and MP for Chorley, warned the plan could cause division in the community

Louise Delve, 55, said that the idea was ‘penalising other children’ and that many families move because of catchment areas

Ms Alex believes that everyone should be ‘treated equally’ 

‘Many families move house to be the in catchment of the school they want their children to attend. It wouldn’t be fair to suddenly change the admission policy.

‘I do think members of the Armed Forces should be given priority of a school place if it was a choice between their child and another, who were both in the catchment area.

‘The Armed Forces do a lot for this country, so it is a small sacrifice.

Ms Conway believes priority should not be given to those who work at the school

Philip Hoole, 36, an IT engineer, said: ‘I think those serving in the Armed Forces should be giving priority. The child’s mum or dad could be serving on tours for months at a time so a little bit of security by allowing them their first-choice school may help to settle them quicker.

‘Having parents away from the family home must be stressful for children, so whatever makes life a little bit easier for them should be done as a priority.’

Daniel Mulla, 25, who works in job security, said: ‘I think it makes a lot of sense allowing children of staff at school to have a place there over others.

‘If you are working at a school, it must be exceptionally difficult to drop your children off at one school and arrive at another in time for the start of the day.

‘I work 9am to 5pm office hours and a lot of my colleagues arrive late because of the school run.

‘It would take a lot of stress out of the daily commute.’

Education union chiefs warned the retention crisis within the teaching profession was reaching a crisis point. 

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, broadly welcomed the plans in Lancashire but said more needs to be done by Whitehall to recruit and retain teachers.

Lancashire County Council bosses are set to carry out a public consultation over how it allocates places to pupils when a school is oversubscribed (file picture)

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, broadly welcomed the plans

‘There are desperate problems across the country because of the difficulty in recruiting and retaining school staff,’ he added.

‘These problems are so serious that the situation is putting at risk educational provision and standards. 

‘We can therefore see why this local authority is consulting on this proposed change to admissions criteria. It is, of course, important that the views of all stakeholders – parents, staff and school leaders – are taken into account before a decision is made.’

A council report said that in order for their children to be eligible for the proposed new priority ranking. staff must have been employed at the school for at least two years when the application is made, or have been recruited to fill a post with ‘a demonstrable skill shortage’.

The town hall’s education cabinet member Jayne Rear said: ‘It is known the location and access to schools for their children can influence the decision of teachers and support staff when applying for a post.

‘Including children eligible for [the] services premium will enable us to support armed forces families, acknowledging not only the service their patents provide in defence of our country, but also the educational-related disadvantages that can arise for children that are obliged to move with their families to postings all around the country and overseas – sometimes at very short notice.’

The consultation on the plans will until December 22 and, if the changes are ultimately approved, they will come into force from September 2025. 

There have been no changes to the oversubscription admission criteria for Lancashire’s maintained schools for a decade.

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