Twenty Shropshire primary schools could be at risk of closure under county council plans to tackle a major fall in pupil numbers and the loss of millions of pounds of Government grant, it was revealed today.But education managers have stressed they have not drawn up a hit-list of threatened schools and their proposals do not mean that every small school in the county is under threat.

Officials have been warning for some time that county schools would not escape serious problems as a result of the significant drop in the national birth rate.

And now figures being presented with a new policy document to the Shropshire County Council cabinet show the extent of the challenge the authority faces in managing the situation.

In five years’ time 3,400 fewer primary school places will be needed compared with 2001.

There are currently 3,250 spare places at the county’s primary schools and this is set to rise to 5,450 by 2012.

As pupil figures fall, not only will some schools be “significantly under-occupied”, the number with small and very small numbers of children will increase.

Some, the cabinet is being warned, will undoubtedly become “educationally unviable”.

The spending watchdog – the Audit Commission – has said that schools should have no more than 10 per cent surplus places.

But this year, of the 141 Shropshire primaries, there are 91 with 10 per cent or more and 20 with 25 per cent or above.

And if no changes are made, the number of schools with least 10 per cent and possibly more surplus places could rise to 110. Those with 25 per cent and above could reach 50.

As pupil numbers fall and surplus places grow, the amount of vital Government grant coming into the council is reduced, and by 2012 it will have lost nearly £4 million.

Liz Nicholson, the council’s Director of Children and Young People’s Services said today that her department had been working on a new policy for about two years.

She said it was aimed at securing a schools network with a sustainable future and in which high educational standards can be maintained.

What the proposals say:

• Schools should have a minimum of four classes, except in urban areas and areas of “geographical isolation”.
• In urban areas, the minimum size should be seven classes for primary schools, nine for infants and eight for junior schools.
• The normal maximum size for a primary will be 14 classes.
• Schools should normally be located in a “suitable centre” of population to minimise transport needs.
• The changes should result in just under 10 per cent – 1,710 – of places unfilled by January 2012.
• Every child should be entitled to a school place within six miles or less of where they live – two miles or less in towns.
• The scheme will be presented to the council’s cabinet next Wednesday with a recommendation that a public consultation be held.

By Dave Morris