Planning obligations for education provision
Buckinghamshire Council has a statutory duty under Section 14 of Education Act 1996 to make sure there are enough early years and school places in its area.
The council has to:
- ensure that schools in its area are sufficient in number, character, and equipment to provide education suitable for the different ages (including pupils who are over compulsory school age but under the age of 19), abilities and aptitudes and special educational needs of pupils of school age.
In Buckinghamshire there are several areas that face a shortfall of school places because of planned housing growth.
To create sustainable communities, Buckinghamshire Council needs to ensure adequate provision of education infrastructure.
Developers are expected to meet demands or mitigate the impacts of their proposals through planning obligations.
We have produced guidance on planning obligations for education provision which was subject to a stakeholder consultation process and subsequently adopted on 8 June 2010.
The guidance is regularly reviewed to take account of changes in government guidance and to include the latest building costs and figures on occupancy levels - without the need for a full-scale review with the latest update in November 2021.
The aim of this guidance is to secure a coherent and consistent approach to ensuring that developers provide or make appropriate contributions to meet the costs of additional education infrastructure requirements generated by new housing developments.
The guidance will help to reduce the uncertainty and time spent on negotiating individual planning applications. It will also act as interim guidance for planning applicants on our approach towards developer contributions for education provision until the adoption of a relevant planning policy document (most likely a Supplementary Planning Document).
If you would like to discuss the potential requirement for an education contribution for a particular site or have any other queries, email us at [email protected].