Big boost planned for primary school places in Preston

The proposals seek to provide additional primary and secondary school places through the expansion of existing schools and the establishment of new ones.

Cabinet members will be asked to approve capital funding for phase 2 of the Cottam Primary School expansion, doubling the number of places from 30 to 60 from September 2025. This will eventually provide an additional 210 permanent places.

Councillors will also be asked to give the go-ahead to the capital allocation to permanently expand Broughton-In-Amounderness Church of England Primary School by 25 places per year from this September.

Approval will be sought for the temporary expansion of Archbishop Temple Church of England High School by 55 places, also from this September, and for making the expansion permanent from September 2025.

In addition, cabinet will be asked to approve a proposal to permanently expand Christ the King Catholic High School by 20 places per year from September 2025 and the capital allocation to fund the expansion.

Members will also review the outcome of a consultation around plans to build a new primary school at the former Whittingham Hospital site, creating 420 places.

County Coun Jayne Rear, Lancashire County Council's cabinet member for education and skills, said: "As a local authority we have statutory duty to ensure there are enough school places available to meet demand over the coming years.

"A lot of work has gone into identifying where shortfalls are predicted and we keep this under review to ensure we are in step with the latest forecasts.

"Providing additional school places will always be carefully managed to mitigate the overall impact on the wider community.

"I want to reassure residents that this is the case for all of our planned schemes."