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Sadiq Khan: Councils could ‘regret’ closing London schools

1 min read Education
The mayor of London Sadiq Khan has urged councils not to make permanent decisions on school closures based on a current fall in birth rates in the capital.
It is difficult to support families to stay in London without government support, Khan said. Picture: City Hall
It is difficult to support families to stay in London without government support, Khan said. Picture: City Hall

Speaking to CYP Now, Khan said he was “really worried about local authorities taking permanent decisions based on what could be a short to medium term blip in the demography of London”.

“I’d encourage councils not to take decisions which later on they regret,” he added, highlighting the pandemic and cost-of-living crisis as reasons why families are moving out of the city.

“If they’re boomerang Londoners and they come back and schools have been shut down and property sold off, that’s a problem,” he said.

The comments came following the closure of scores of schools in the capital including four primary schools run by Hackney Council due to “an ongoing, significant decline in the number of school-aged children, observed all across London”.

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