NEW housing developments and changes in birth rates affected by the health of the economy will all have an impact on the need for child school places in Darlington in the next decade, councillors have been told.

The school organisational plan for Darlington forecasts the required school places for primary and secondary school children across the borough until 2025 and considers where schools might need to be built or expanded.

The report was presented to members of Darlington Borough Council’s children and young people scrutiny committee this afternoon.

Rachel Kershaw, head of school and pupil support services at the council, told members that the borough had seen an increase in the number of primary age pupils in recent years and had expanded a number of schools to increase provision.

She added: “We take into account future projections on birth rate and housing developments that are planned, as well as people moving into the area.

“At the moment we have capacity available for pupils and that’s what we want to keep.

“Statistics we are getting this year suggest a possible drop in the birth rate due to the economic situation, which we will keep an eye on.

“In secondary schools we have a lot more capacity but that is historic – the schools were built many years ago and when the birth rate dropped sharply ten years ago they were left as they were.

“That means that as the increased numbers of primary school pupils move up into secondary there will be more than enough space for them.”

Councillor Tony Richmond noted the difficulty in accurately forecasting school numbers and asked Ms Kershaw if she and her team were confident that there would be enough school places in the town in the light of expected large housing developments.

Ms Kershaw indicated that discussions were already underway with developers and planners to ensure that funding for schools places was made available before any houses were built.

She added: “We have reserved sites for potential educational sites, although there is no commitment to build. Funding is the big risk factor – we get £1.5m a year from the government for places and the average primary school costs £4.5m to build so we would need to plan in advance.

“We are negotiating with developers to make sure potential schools are built at the same time as housing.”