Urgent meeting on the school places crisis in Muswell Hill. Around 40 children don’t have places for next Autumn. Fantastically informed presentations from four of the parents – showing that this year is an exceptional ‘bulge’ year but that Haringey Council had done no planning to accommodate this even though it was known from the statistics available.

Two extra classes are urgently needed – and there is space at some of the schools in the area to accommodate extra classrooms. In desperation, people have even been talking about portacabins being better than nothing.

The council officers and lead member for education were unwilling to give a commitment to providing these, saying there were legal and other barriers that they would investigate and that there were enough places in the borough elsewhere.

This was cold comfort for parents whose lives are complicated enough without having to travel large distances on top of their daily activities anyway. Moreover, the Government says it wants children to go to local schools and parents to have choice. Well – all three local choices have been refused these children.

And as Chair of Transport at the London Assembly – I spend my time trying to persuade people not to use their cars for the school run. But that means the schools need to be reachable by public transport, and in reasonable time.

Where there is a will there is a way – and I couldn’t say why the council lead member for education couldn’t at the very least have given a commitment to create the needed extra places subject to agreement by heads and governing boards of the three Muswell Hill schools.

A steering group was set up with four of the parents to investigate the way forward.