Tories leave Croydon facing school-places crisis

Croydon could face a shortage of over 4,500 primary school places by 2018, according to figures released on the day parents found out if their child had been offered one.

The borough will have 4,588 more pupils than places by 2018 according to Labour research. Steve Reed, Labour’s candidate for Croydon North, has criticised the Tory government for leaving Croydon facing a crisis in school places.

Five years of Conservative government have left Croydon’s families worse off. One of the first acts of David Cameron’s government was to cut Labour’s school building programme in half. The Tories then wasted millions of pounds opening schools in areas with a surplus of places while telling parents in Croydon there wasn’t enough for their children.

The news comes after Steve highlighted the Tory ‘phantom free school’ scandal which saw £82,000 wasted on a school that was never built.

Labour’s Steve Reed said: “After five years of waste and incompetence thanks to the Tories’ education free-for-all, Croydon has been left with the biggest shortage of school places in the country. Too many parents are sick with worry after being told there’s no place for their child, while others have been offered places at schools they don’t want or which are miles away from where they live.

“It is a scandal that Croydon has children being taught in portakabins while the Tories throw away millions on schools in areas that don’t need the extra places. Labour’s approach is common sense – we’ll prioritise funding for areas where the need is greatest like Croydon.”