Hundreds investigated over school place lies in Black Country and Staffordshire
Hundreds of parents have been investigated on suspicion of lying about where they live to get their children into their preferred school across the Black Country and Staffordshire, figures revealed today.
Thirteen school places were withdrawn after education chiefs found false details had been provided on application forms in the past three years.
The news comes after parents across the region discovered where their children would be going to school from September.
In Dudley, 328 investigations were carried out into parents' applications in 2013, while 181 investigations were carried out in the previous year.
The probes showed four of the applicants for this year provided fraudulent details, and three did last year.
Dudley Council's cabinet member for children's services Councillor Tim Crumpton said: "Dudley examines all cases where there appears to be a difference in a family address provided by nurseries or primary schools.
"This accounts for the number of cases investigated and are not treated as fraudulent in the first instance. Most cases are where families have legitimately moved home and as such the number of fraudulent cases in Dudley is low."
Staffordshire County Council withdrew four school place offers last year after investigations found parents provided false details.
Andrew Marsden, county commissioner for Access to Learning said: "We have a fair and equitable system for school places, and while we understand parents' wishes to get their children into certain schools, we expect them to follow the proper procedures.
"We will always investigate allegations of using false information, and if substantiated, we will withdraw the offer of a school place.
"I am pleased to say that the overwhelming majority of parents adhere to the application process, resulting in very few investigations for a county our size."
Wolverhampton City Council investigated three parents this year but no school places were withdrawn. Sandwell did not record figures.
While Walsall Council revealed one primary school place was withdrawn last year and it was believed a parent supplied the wrong address on their application. In 2011 a secondary school place was withdrawn for the same reason.
Walsall Council Coalition children's services member Councillor Rachel Andrew said: "The vast majority of parents take the admission process very seriously and put a lot of time and thought into their application."
