Enfield Council has paused the launch of a public consultation on the possible closure of three schools in the north London borough, after parents, teachers and councillors pressed the authority to look again at the evidence behind the plans.

The six-week consultation on the possible closure of Bishop Stopford's School, Starks Field Primary School and Suffolks Primary School had been due to begin on Monday, 9 November. It will now be held back while the schools submit further information, including updated evidence on pupil numbers.

Chris Dey, the council's cabinet member for children's services, said: "The proposed consultations on falling pupil numbers affecting Bishop Stopford's School, Starks Field Primary and Suffolks Primary School have been paused." He said the pause would give each school the chance to provide any further information it believes the council should consider, and that the cabinet would then carefully review that information alongside the consultation documents before deciding whether to proceed.

Falling rolls and a combined deficit of £1.68 million

The council's case for consulting on closure rests on falling pupil numbers, surplus places and budget pressures. A cabinet report published in October said the three schools reported a combined deficit of £1.675 million at the end of the 2025/26 financial year: £1.2 million at Bishop Stopford's, £250,000 at Starks Field and £225,000 at Suffolks.

Enrolment has fallen sharply at all three schools over the past decade. Bishop Stopford's has dropped by around 25% to 554 pupils, Suffolks Primary by 45% to 182 pupils, and Starks Field Primary by 58% to 187 pupils. The council says Bishop Stopford's is operating at under half its capacity, Starks Field below 45%, and Suffolks is projected to fall below 37% occupancy by 2029.

All three schools hold "good" ratings from Ofsted, a point campaigners have stressed throughout the dispute. Labour councillors called in the cabinet's decision, arguing that the council's report contained material inaccuracies and failed to account for specialist places for children with special educational needs and disabilities, including speech and language and autism provision at Suffolks.

MP raises the issue at Prime Minister's Questions

The dispute reached the House of Commons on Wednesday, 11 November, when Enfield North MP Feryal Clark raised Suffolks Primary School during Prime Minister's Questions and invited the prime minister to visit the school to see its inclusive special educational needs and disabilities model.

Suffolks parent Hollie Welch welcomed the pause as a "positive step" and urged council leader Alessandro Georgiou to assess alternative plans for keeping the schools viable.

The council has stressed that no decision has been made to close any of the three schools, and that the proposal was only to consult on closure alongside alternatives such as repurposing or redesignation. The Conservative-run administration took control of the council in May 2026 after 16 years of Labour governance.

For now, the pause gives the three school communities a temporary reprieve from the formal consultation process, and the council says it will decide whether to proceed only after it has reviewed the further evidence the schools provide.

Sources: North London News and Enfield Council cabinet report KD6131.