Primary Schools Section 106 Agreements - Find a freedom of information request

1. I would like to know how the Education Authority decides if money needs to be requested for Section 106 Agreements.

2.  Do they only take pupil numbers into consideration or do they take physical space into consideration also?

3.  Where does the pupil capacity numbers come from? is this School led by the number of teachers they have?

4. I would also like to know if the Education Authority assess what teaching space is available annually or does this have to be triggered by a request from the school?

1. LCC assesses the impact of development using pupil production ratios generated by local research to understand the number of children that housing will bring into a locality.  Subsequently, the capacity of locally impacted schools will be considered based on LCC's projections model – typically this refers to year 4 of our projections (presently academic year 2022-23).  Where there is insufficient capacity available for children generated by the scheme, i.e. the school is practically full (practically full is taken as being 95% full in order to allow for in-year movements and parental preference), a request will be made towards additional capacity (following confirmation that a school is capable of extension).  A partial request will be made where a housing development takes a school over 95% with a request only being made towards those places in excess of 95%, e.g. if a school has 2 places to 95% and a scheme generates 6 children, a request would be made for 4 children.  Finally, no request would be made where sufficient capacity exists for all children generated by a scheme.  In line with recent DfE guidance, large urban extensions that provide their own schools will not be considered in relation to capacity outside of their site, but will be requested to contribute fully toward the new school that they generate.

2. Each application is considered on a case by case basis.  Pupil numbers are the primary consideration, however where there is evidently sufficient capacity for expansion without further capital works this may be considered, this only occurs in exceptional cases as typically schools in Lincolnshire are operating to capacity.

3. Pupil capacity numbers can be found online at https://get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/

4. The County Council aims to visit schools once every two years to assess teaching space and ensure that our records are accurate and up to date.