A lack of power over academy admissions is leaving councils ill-equipped to meet their statutory duties and manage the fall-out from London鈥檚 plunging pupil numbers, the government has been warned. Falling birth rates and a post-Covid exodus of families from the capital have squeezed budgets in primaries as they struggle to fill reception classrooms. With grim forecasts predicting the number of four-year-olds in some areas of London will drop up to 15 per cent by 2027, borough chiefs have slashed admission totals and even decided to close schools. But while they can determine reductions in local authority-maintained schools, their powers do not extend to academies. ‘This will only accelerate problem’ Sam Freedman, a former adviser to the Department for Education, said the split between local authorities and trusts 鈥渃reates an incentive to academise鈥. Sam Freedman 鈥淚f no one has the power to close a school in the area and it鈥檚 left with trusts, you鈥檙e unlikely to get anyone to willingly close and you鈥檒l get falling rolls across all schools.鈥 The axed schools bill proposed giving councils more power to intervene in academies, which are their own admission authorities. Freedman added: 鈥淚f you鈥檙e a maintained school, you鈥檒l think getting into a trust will make you safe. This will only accelerate the problem.鈥 London鈥檚 birth rate dropped 17 per cent between 2012 and 2021, equivalent to 23,225 fewer children. Almost 15 per cent of school places in the city are now unfilled. In Hackney 鈥 with 634 vacant reception places last year 鈥 senior councillors voted a fortnight ago to from next September. Repeated calls for powers Anntoinette Bramble, the borough鈥檚 deputy mayor, said she had 鈥渞epeatedly asked the government for greater powers to manage places in free schools and academies in order to pool resources鈥. She claimed that the launch of four free schools since 2013, 鈥渨ithout reference to the council鈥檚 evidence-based needs鈥, had contributed to the 鈥渞eduction in demand for places鈥. Halley House 鈥 part of Bellevue Place Education Trust 鈥 agreed to halve its published admission number (PAN) 鈥渋n response to falling reception rolls鈥 in 2019. Fellow academy Mossbourne Parkside also pledged to reduce entry numbers from this September. Mark Greatrex , the chief executive of Bellevue Place, said he was 鈥渒een to work in partnership with the council鈥. But London Councils, a cross-party organisation representing the capital鈥檚 boroughs, said the lack of statutory levers on falling rolls. 鈥淸The government needs to] give local authorities the power to manage an academy鈥檚 reduction of PAN or closure, where there is clear evidence of a significant drop in demand and a need to act to ensure a school remains viable,鈥 the body said in a report earlier this year. Laws needed to ‘tidy up process’ However, Freedman argued that councils could only 鈥済et the powers if all primaries and secondaries are academies because they鈥檒l otherwise try to defend their own鈥. The alternative was for regional directors to take the lead. 鈥淲e need legislation to tidy up the academy process.鈥 Research from London Councils shows pupil numbers are likely to decrease from 2022-23 to 2026-27. Lambeth, the worst-hit, is set to see a dip of more than 15 per cent. The borough admitted in October it had 鈥渓imited control over secondary decisions鈥 as 13 of its 20 11-plus schools were academies, which gave it 鈥渓imited option鈥 on year 7 place provision. While the demand for these spaces is expected to decline at a slower rate than for primaries, two Lambeth secondary academies are due to close. The second closure was 鈥渙utside our control鈥, said Ben Kind, the council鈥檚 member for children. 鈥淲e believe these important decisions should be taken locally, not nationally.鈥 Further tensions emerged when the oversubscribed Kingsdale Foundation in nearby Southwark unveiled plans to boost its PAN by more than 42 per cent from next September. ‘It’s survival of biggest’ Lambeth opposed the proposal at the beginning of the year, urging the academy to 鈥渨ork as part of the community rather than to act in isolation鈥. Florence Eshalomi Meanwhile, Richmond upon Thames education chiefs noted in March that 鈥渋f further academisation were to happen to the point where few, if any, stay council-maintained, then that might make it more difficult for us to fulfil our statutory duty鈥. Florence Eshalomi, the Labour MP for Vauxhall, told colleagues during a Westminster Hall debate on Wednesday that this created 鈥渁 survival-of-the-biggest culture鈥. Since 2015, average headcounts for primary academies have grown by almost a tenth, overtaking those of their authority-maintained counterparts, Schools Week analysis shows. 鈥淲e鈥檝e already seen this locally where larger academies expand at the expense of neighbouring schools,” Eshalomi said. “This threatens the mix of small and big schools that defines London鈥檚 school ecosystem.鈥澛 A uncovered that more than 90 primaries across England are either set to close or at risk of shutting as they sit more than two-thirds empty.