Derbyshire school places shortfall

Infinity Garden Village artist's impression. Image from South Derbyshire District Council

More than 1,800 Derbyshire children over the next five years will have to attend schools outside their catchment after central Government pulled the plug on a long-planned new secondary.

A falling birth rate was the reason put forward for the Labour Government’s reason to scrap the planned £27 million 1,230-space secondary school on the Infinity Garden Village, bordering Chellaston.

Its decision, issued at the end of March, came despite fervent lobbying from politicians of all political persuasions, including South Derbyshire’s Labour MP Samantha Niblett and Derbyshire County Council leader, Reform UK’s Cllr Alan Graves.

In a video posted on Facebook, Cllr Graves included a scrolling news bulletin tagline which read “by 2030 over 1,000 children will be searching for schools outside the area”.

The basis for this data has been shown in a letter published by Ms Niblett in her letter to central Government.

It shows that the area around the planned secondary school is expected to have 6,500 new homes built in it, many of which have already been constructed, with an expected “pupil yield” of 845.

The letter also shows all secondary schools in the area are at full capacity, with 176 surplus spots at John Port Spencer Academy in Etwall, which is already the largest secondary in Derbyshire with a current capacity for 2,070 pupils.

It says future demand for secondary school places total 395 for the approaching 2026/27 academic year, followed by a further 373 in 2027, 364 from 2028, 356 in 2029 and 350 from the 2030 academic year.

For these future five years, this totals 1,838 pupils, in addition to the 845 pupils expected from new homes in the next five years, with just 176 spare spaces at John Port to cater for it, leaving a gap of 1,803.

Ms Niblett writes that the 845 additional pupils from planned new homes would “significantly exceed future demand at John Port”.

She writes: “I would suggest that when the number of children on [new] developments start to appear in GP data this will be too late to respond to the need for new schools.

“With no capacity in neighbouring schools and no ability to add capacity to John Port there wil be nowhere for these children to go, and we will be scraping around for last minute school places or the building of a new school in years to come, when there is demand now.”

Ms Niblett’s letter quotes a letter from the county council, which details: “The need for a new secondary school to serve this area of South Derbyshire long pre-dates the Free Schools programme.

“The need is unequivocal, with a historic need which was acknowledged by DCC in 2016, the local community in 2016 and as part of jointed up strategic infrastructure plannning as a response to significant and rapid housing growth across the Derby housing market area.

“The site and funding are largely secured and would be at risk is its delivery is delayed further.

“Any delays beyond the current planned delivery date, if the project were to now be taken out of the Free School programme at this state, would be catastrophic for Derbyshire families still awaiting a long-planned secondary provision.”

Ms Niblett says the pupil yield from planning applications alone would be enough for support the need for a secondary school, regardless of the existing need from families already in the area.

However, a letter sent to officials by central Government on Wednesday, March 25, says national pupil numbers are declining and that new schools will only be provided in areas where there is “clear evidence of a need for great new schools”.

It said the number of new houses and existing future need, journey times to schools out of catchment, including in Derby, along with funding from housing developers for the new secondary had all been taken into account.

However, it concluded: “There was insufficient new evidence to change our assessment of the need for the new school.

“Whilst data does indicate some increase in need for secondary places, this still does not justify building a whole new school.

“We consider that, in the medium term, the additional pupil yield expected from the new housing developments could be accommodated in schools within the existing planning area structure, including in Derby city.

“We consider there will be sufficient school places in the medium term within travelling times set out in the Department for Educattion’s travel to school guidance.

“You will understand that the department needs to maintain a rigorous focus on securing value for money and that proceeding with this project would represent a substantial financial commitment.”

The letter details: “I realise that this will be very disappoinging news.”

Ms Niblett, posting the responses on Facebook, wrote: “Sadly the secondary school isn’t getting built because we have a falling birth rate.”

Cllr Graves said the decision was “very disappointing”, that the case for a new secondary is strong, that the area had been failed by the Labour Government and that the education of the district’s pupils had been left “very uncertain”.

This decision came three months after the Government said it was “minded to cancel” the scheme, which has formed an integral part of the garden village plan for more than a decade.

In 2020, Derbyshire County Council had earmarked the school as costing £27 million and that it had already had £19.8 million in funding agreed by developers to pay for the facility through approved housing developments in the area.

The proposed secondary, the Infinity Park Spencer Academy, had been last due to open in September 2027, having already been delayed from 2023 and 2025 respectively.