- Media & Campaigns
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- 2008
- March 2008
- 31 March 2008
- Non emergency hotline saved after home office pulls plug on funding
- Councils launch crackdown on utilities digging up the roads
- Taxpayers Alliance figures need to be taken with dollop of salt
- Junk food outlet ban near schools no ‘silver bullet’
- Extension of human rights law ‘Victory for common sense’ - LGA
- Council tax rise is lowest for over a decade
- Councils must be at the heart of constitutional reform
- Planning review
- Developers must help to plug shortage in allotments
- Councils get green light to help save post offices
- Local Government Employers submit formal pay offer to unions
- School application fraud increasing
- LGA launches new climate change campaign
- Kiss goodbye to inheritance, kids told, as reality of care costs hit home
- LGA response to Budget 2008
- Budget offers 'little relief' for town halls
- Help hard pressed council taxpayers, town halls urge Chancellor
- Government backs LGA call for stronger council control over school admissions
- Bring local people together with properly funded services
- LGA calls for greater vigilance on forced marriages
- Waste tax could take £70 from every household
- Reform of benefits could cut council tax for one in three
- Combat climate change and fight fuel poverty by insulating every home - LGA
- LGA response to 'People power' white paper
- Tackle alcohol licensing to help end binge drinking Britain
- Olympic training camps revealed
School application fraud increasing
19 March 2008
Council leaders today expressed their concerns after new figures showed a large increase in the number of parents unlawfully giving false addresses in order to get their children into high-performing schools.
An investigation by the Local Government Association found that, of 31 councils surveyed, 24 (77 per cent) had experienced an increase in the numbers of parents found to be lying on application forms. Most of the bogus applications were based on false addresses within the catchment areas of popular schools.
While figures are still low in most areas, council leaders are concerned at the worrying trend of increasing numbers of parents willing to break the law. The numbers detected in 2007/08 are nine times higher than two years ago and nearly three times higher than last year.
Councils which recorded rises over the last three years include:
- Richmond Upon Thames (up from 5 to 50)
- Cheshire (up from 0 to 16)
- Coventry (up from 0 to 14)
- Bristol (up from 2 to 8)
- Trafford (up from 0 to 6)
- Poole (up from 0 to 5)
- Gloucestershire (up from 0 to 4)
Many parents move house to get into the catchment area of popular schools, which is perfectly legitimate. Others lie about their religious beliefs to get their children into faith schools. However, lying about where you live in order to get a place at a school is illegal and parents risk prosecution under the Fraud Act 2006. In most cases, the offer of a place is simply withdrawn.
Commenting on the findings, Cllr Les Lawrence, chairman of the Children and Young People Board of the LGA, said:
“There appears to be an emerging and worrying trend of parents willing to break the law in order to try and get their children into the best schools. While everyone wants the best for their children, parents who are willing to go beyond the law means that other law-abiding parents and children miss out.
“Councils work extremely hard to ensure that every child has a fair chance of getting into their parents’ preferred school. Unfortunately, many high-performing schools are oversubscribed and therefore attract fraudulent applications.
“Councils are taking this very seriously because they are elected to put local people first. It is every parent’s nightmare if their child fails to get a place because another parent has lied to get their child into a school instead.”
Cllr Malcolm Eady, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services and Education on Richmond Council, said: “We have seen a big increase in the number of bogus applications for primary places from around a handful in 2006-07 to approximately 50 this year. We have the best primary schools in the country and they are therefore extremely popular.
“The most common examples we uncover are: parents stating the address of the child’s grandparents as being the child’s home; parents stating the address of a property which they own but are renting out to other people; and parents who own more than one property not giving their correct home address.
“We are warning parents that if a child gains a place on the basis of false information, the Council has the power to remove that child from the school.
“Our admissions team knows every trick in the book and are successful in rooting out bogus applications.
“We work extremely hard to find places for every child and make the system transparent and equal for all. We are therefore appealing to parents to play fair and stick to the rules.”
One council’s admissions manager commented: “Parents are definitely getting more creative in the scramble for places at high-performing schools. Children are suddenly pretending to be living with distant relatives near a popular school, or a family of five are falsely claiming to be living in a single rented room within a certain catchment area.”
Author: LGA Media Office
Contact: Joanna Bale, 0207 664 3333