How councils keep parents honest

With highly sought-after primary schools it is hardly surprising that Richmond Council takes seriously its duty to verify parents' applications.

Occupying the top slot in England's local authority primary league tables, some schools in the leafy London borough are over-subscribed by as much as four to one.

In March 2008, the council had as many as 50 cases of false applications, but last year the number had dropped to about 21. The council says this was a result of publicity about its thorough checking system.

Once all the application forms have been submitted in early December, the borough's admissions team begins checking the information on them against council tax records.

Where the applicant cannot be found in council records, the case is passed on to the borough's audit section for further verification.

This usually simply involves following a paper trail however, rather than invoking anti-terror laws to send detectives out to follow children home from school or nursery, as was reported at one south of England council.

"We have no wish to be taking parents to court"

Eagle-eyed admissions clerks at the primary schools themselves also help out by making a note of anything out of the ordinary.

They might be prompted to ask for further inquiries after seeing a pile of local newspapers or mail sticking out of the letter box at an applicants' address.

Parents in Richmond are asked to register an interest with their desired school by filling in a form on which they are required to give an address.

So if anything changes when it comes to making the actual application, this can also be a clue that rules may be being bent.

In the case of separated parents, living in two different places, the local authority will use the address of the parent who receives the child benefit for admission purposes.

Thus a check of child benefit and other records can be necessary.

'Through checking'

And where the sibling rule is being used to secure a place, a check of the register of births, deaths and marriages will be required.

Much of the detail of admissions rules is clearly stated in the information booklet that comes with the council's common application form.

But a balance has to be struck between being up-front with parents and giving them all the details of how the system works so that they can spot any loopholes and use them.

If a false application is noticed by the admissions team, the ultimate sanction is the removal of the offer of a place at the school in question.

But currently there is no legal sanction.

Richmond's legal advice is that bending the admissions rules is not fraud, as Harrow Council had claimed in its case against Mrinal Patel, who was prosecuted for giving her mother's address when applying to Pinner Park First School for her son.

She denied fraud and the case was dropped.

The local authority still has a legal duty to find a place for the child once their name has been removed from the school in question. But this may not be at one of the schools the parent had asked for.

Council officers say the main reason that it takes several months from the application deadline to offer day is so that verification of documentation can take place.

Councillor Malcolm Eady, Richmond's cabinet member for education and children's services, said the council had a duty to look after the interests of all its residents and ensure the school application process was fair to everyone.

He added: "We have in place an extremely thorough checking system. We promoted this and as a result we have seen fewer false applications this year.

"If the government is inclined to introduce greater measures we will certainly consider them; however, we have no wish to be taking parents to court."

RELATED INTERNET LINKS
London Borough of Richmond Upon Thames
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites