CITY council chiefs have denied claims that they are preparing the ground for “closure” of a primary school.

A source in the Westminster school system told Extra this week that plans to shut down a school, or “amalgamate” it with another nearby, were being drawn up behind closed doors.

The insider believes the identity of the school is being kept secret from the public until after the May 7 council elections.

Responding to the allegation yesterday, Thursday, Aicha Less (above), Labour’s deputy council leader and cabinet member for children and public protection, said: “This is simply untrue.

“The council does not have plans under way on any proposal to close
the school; neither have we hired an auditor for this process.”

The source said the council was playing with semantics as the city council did not consider “amalgamations” – where two schools become one – as officially a closure.

A city council spokesperson said the statement also applied to “amalgamations”.

The source said that a senior school executive had revealed eight schools in Westminster were threatened with “closure” due to falling admissions.

One would be announced shortly after the May 7 election, the source said, adding that “legal closure documents were being drafted in secret”.

Several schools in Westminster have either closed or joined forces with neighbours due to plummeting admissions, which affects funding.

The number of state schoolchildren in Westminster is rapidly diminishing each year because of the lack of affordable family-sized housing.

Soho Parish and All Souls CE schools are in the process of “federating” under a single leadership team.

The Soho school had been threatened with closure until The Gruffalo illustrator Axel Scheffler swung into action to support it.

In the north west of the borough Barrow Hill Junior, Robinsfield Infant and George Eliot Primary schools “merged” to become St John’s Wood Primary School.

Our Lady of Dolours also “merged” into St Mary of the Angels Catholic Primary School.

St Stephen’s and St Mary Magdalene’s Church of England Primary Schools were previously amalgamated in 2022.