“I know we will be joined by many local authorities up and down the country, and the concern is, where are those children.” She added that the situation had also been exacerbated by “central policy developments” including the opening up of free schools, which have a provision of places which “does not necessarily relate itself directly to what local authorities [are] providing”. Falling primary school rolls are far from a Hackney-specific issue. As London house prices continue to rise and birth rates fall, it poses a threat to schools whose government funding is directly linked to the numbers of pupils they admit.