Rochdale’s MP Paul Waugh has backed parents’ calls for a new secondary school in Littleborough, telling ministers of the “dire need” to create more places for pupils.

Mr Waugh has written to Minister for School Standards Catherine McKinnell to request a meeting to unblock delays caused by the last Government in building extra provision for the borough of Rochdale.

In his letter to the minister, the MP pointed out that Rochdale Council’s education chief has warned that the lack of places for children going from primary school into Year 7 has now “become unmanageable”.

According to figures from Rochdale Council there will be an expected shortfall of 26 places for Year 7 pupils in the Pennines area of Rochdale in 2026, rising to 80 places in 2027.

Since 2021, local Councillors estimate more than 100 eleven and twelve year olds have not been able to be accommodated at either Wardle or Hollingworth Academies and have had to travel outside the area for their education.

In his letter, Mr Waugh said the current situation “leaves young children having to be sent out of the borough on two buses and commutes of an hour each way”, in some cases, being split up from their family members.

He said that the creation of a new secondary school in the Pennines area would relieve pressure on schools in the centre of Rochdale, and also provide much needed new provision for children with special educational needs (SEN).

Mr Waugh said that traffic solutions had to be found to ensure the new school was integrated into the area, but the lack of school places had to be resolved urgently.

The 2010 Academies Act brought in by the coalition government ended the rights of Local Authorities to build schools, despite it being the Council’s statutory duty to ensure every child has a school place.

Rochdale Council tracks the need for future school places and as such has campaigned for several years for a new school. The Department for Education granted permission for the Borough to have two new secondary schools in 2019, with the one at Bowlee opening in 2021.

However the school proposed for Littleborough faced significant challenges linked to cost and access, causing delays. This was further complicated when between July and October 2022 a total of 5 different Conservative MPs held the role of Secretary of State for Education. The last of these, Gillian Keegan made the decision to ‘pause’ certain building programmes to assess their viability, one of which was in Littleborough.

By November 2023, with the review completed, Rochdale Council were informed that the scheme had been ‘unpaused’, but the subsequent general election meant that once again there is confusion as to the status of the much needed new school.

Following strong campaigning from Littleborough Lakeside Councillors working with the new MP, Mr Waugh has now written to the Minister requesting a meeting to discuss progress.

Rochdale MP Paul Waugh said, “Rochdale is in dire need of more school places, I have requested to meet with the relevant Department for Education Minister as a matter of urgency to bring this project back on track.”

Littleborough Lakeside Councillor Tom Besford said: “Each year myself and fellow Councillors receive heartbreaking and at times desperate phone calls from parents who have been told that their child must travel to school miles from home, separating friendship groups, causing anxiety and adding significant journey times for those children.

“Whilst I completely acknowledge that there are challenges with the proposed location of the new school, nothing can be more important than the education and wellbeing of our children.”