More than 900 children not in school - council

Council officials say "hotspot" areas are being targeted

More than 900 children are not currently receiving "a suitable education", a county council's figures have revealed.

As of December 2024, there were 914 children missing from education - a figure not including those officially home-schooled or pupils in the Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen council areas.

A county council cabinet meeting heard some of those not on the school roll have only recently arrived in the county – with a number even being new to the country – but an exact breakdown was not given.

Lancashire County Council said the majority of the youngsters were within the admissions system and active attempts were being made to find them a school place.

The Local Democracy Reporting Services writes that a report by the authority's executive director of education and children's services, Jacqui Old, stated targeted support was being provided in "hotspot areas" where there were a significant numbers of families who are new to the UK – namely, Preston, Burnley and Pendle.

"[It] is now well established and providing invaluable assistance to parents with school applications, appeals and signposting to other services," wrote Ms Old.

She added work was continuing to increase capacity in schools in parts of Lancashire where demand "may be causing a delay in admissions for children missing education".

The county council's target is to have fewer than 700 children in that category – and cabinet member for education and skills Jayne Rear said the authority was "not an outlier" with its current challenges when compared to others.

She also stressed that the proportion of children not getting an education in the county amounted to 0.1% of the school-age population.

However, Labour's deputy opposition group leader Jennifer Mein said the scale of the problem was "really worrying".

"In the current climate, where there [are] concerns about safeguarding and Prevent [the government's anti-terror programme]…it makes it even more important that we can account for all of the children in this county," councillor Mein said.

Cabinet members were told 30 additional places had been negotiated for in-year admissions in three secondary schools in the Preston area – at Ashton High School, Fulwood Academy and Longridge High.