The Schools Adjudicator has overturned a decision by Lambeth Council to close St John the Divine Church of England Primary School, a voluntary aided school maintained by Lambeth Council.
The Adjudicator’s determination discusses the proper approach to consulting on, and evidencing, proposals for school amalgamation or closure. It will be of interest to authorities considering such steps in the context of their place planning strategies, and schools in their areas.
On 4 November 2024, Lambeth’s Cabinet approved a proposal that the school be closed, and its pupils offered places at another local school. The Council presented this as an amalgamation of the two schools. The school’s governing body, which opposed closure, exercised its right of referral to the Adjudicator under the Education and Inspections Act 2006. The Adjudicator found that there were serious shortcomings in the Council’s consultation, the Council’s officers misunderstood the process for school amalgamation, the evidence in support of the proposal was insufficiently robust to justify it, and the Council had been wrong to conclude that the school was inherently unviable. The Adjudicator reversed the Cabinet’s decision.
The case has been reported in the press, including by Schools Week, the Church Times, BBC London, BBC Radio London, Brixton Buzz and Southwark News.
The determination is available here.
Raphael Hogarth acted for the school throughout the proceedings before the Adjudicator, instructed by Louise Sivey at Bates Wells.
