Politicians have slammed the Government’s £4.9m investment in Lambeth schools as “a slap in the face”, saying they need 10 times the cash to tackle the shortage of primary school places.

Lambeth Council will be one of 100 local authorities to receive a share of £500m for education services, following an announcement by Education Secretary Michael Gove last week.

But Lambeth cabinet member for children and young people, Councillor Pete Robbins, said Lambeth needed £50m – 10 times the pledged investment – to create enough primary places for every child in the borough. Demand for reception and primary school places in Lambeth has risen by 40 per cent in four years in some areas, forcing the council to admit it would not be able to guarantee a primary school place for every child by 2015.

Coun Robbins plans to meet the Education Secretary to lobby for more funding from central Government.

He said: “Almost 1,000 parents wrote to Michael Gove asking for the funding we needed and to get less than 10 per cent of it is a slap in the face for them.

“I’m taking parents to meet Mr Gove next week and we look forward to hearing him explain why he can find cash for his own pet projects but not for the primary school places our communities need.”

But Councillor Ashley Lumsden, leader of Lambeth’s Liberal Democrat group, said the council should find the cash in its own budget instead of demanding bigger handouts.

He said: “I am pleased the Government has doubled funding available for new school places. This latest £5m is on top of the £15m already given to Lambeth.

“It is now time for Labour councillors to step up to find the cash, rather than expect everything to be paid for by central Government.”