A crisis in primary school places will be averted next month by creating 490 places in temporary classrooms, Brent Council says.

The council’s executive agreed the move at a meeting last night, meaning the ‘bulge’ classes – including six at the Stonebridge Centre in Tywbridge Way – will be enough to offer a place to every child, which it called “a real achievement”.

Councillors also agreed a massive primary school expansion plan, funded mainly by Government grants, which will create 630 reception places in the next four years and a total of 4,410 extra permanent places eventually.

But despite receiving one of the highest levels of Government funding in the country to expand schools, councillors were warned by officers that they were still £82million short, and if they spent the £92m they currently have solely on primary schools there would be “a significant shortage” in secondary school places by September 2014.

It would cost £174m to open or expand 29 primary and secondary schools to meet demand, with a new school being considered as part of the Oriental City redevelopment in Edgware Road announced yesterday.

It is predicted that Brent faces the need to create 21 new primary classes, 19 new secondary classes, and 192 special educational needs (SEN) places by 2020 due to rising birth rates and immigration into the borough.

Council officers urged the executive to work with the Government on its free school initiative as a way of creating more places and securing more funding, or face having to borrow huge amounts of money.

Councillor George Crane, lead member for major projects, said: “We have been faced with a serious challenge but are doing everything we can, working with schools to provide a good school place for every Brent child.
 
“When the work on temporary classrooms is finished this autumn, we expect to be able to offer a place to every child, which will be a real achievement.

“However, we will need to continue lobbying government for more support and looking at every option to help us meet the expected rise in demand for secondary and SEN places in the longer term.”

The ability to offer a primary school place to all children is an improvement from last year, when the council failed to provide 29 children with any place at all.

The schools to be expanded include a £12m scheme to create four new classes at Wembley High School by 2014 and a £4.8m project  to create one new class at Barham Primary School in Danethorpe Road.