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"Today’s announcement to increase the amount that employers can transfer of their Levy contribution is a positive sign that the Government is listening to council concerns around the need for flexibility to ensure the Levy is genuinely effective."

“Every child should have a fair chance of getting into their parents’ preferred school and councils and schools work extremely hard to try and ensure that as many pupils as possible are allocated their first preference.”

“Councils have a track record of doing everything they can to rise to the challenge of ensuring no child goes without a place, having created more than 800,000 new places since 2010."

"Councils need the powers and appropriate funding to enter homes or other premises to check a child’s schooling, and make sure they aren’t being taught in unsuitable or dangerous environments."

“Councils have a legal duty to ensure capacity but need powers to open new schools or direct academies to expand. This is the best way to ensure as many children as possible get the places they want.”

“We urgently need to reform our children’s social care and SEND systems, including transformational investment in the services that give all children the best start in life.”

“Good attendance at school plays a vital role in children’s development, however councils lack the powers to ensure children who are missing school don’t slip through the net, such as directing academies to accept pupils."

“Good quality early education can make an enormous difference to children’s lives, with around 40 per cent of the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers emerging by age 5."

Chair of the LGA’s Children and Young People Boards, Cllr Judith Blake, responds to a report by the Education Policy Institute on unexplained exits of pupils.

Councils face an £8 billion funding gap by 2025, while an additional £1.6 billion is required in high needs funding by 2021. It is essential that Government uses the forthcoming Spending Review to address these shortfalls, and to ensure schools are adequately funded to support all children to achieve their ambitions.”