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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what criteria her Department uses to assess the value for money of each free school’s capital budget.

Edward Timpson

Since 2010, we have opened around 400 new free schools, university technical colleges and studio schools. These schools offer excellent value for money. They are being built significantly quicker and cheaper than previous school building programmes. The National Audit Office found in its report in 2013 that free schools were built 45% cheaper than other school building programmes. Almost 200,000 new places will be provided. 25% of the free schools inspected by Ofsted have been judged outstanding compared to 20% of all other schools. We plan to open at least 500 new schools during this Parliament.

We monitor the programme’s costs to ensure it continues to offer excellent value. A value for money assessment is made prior to a free school application being approved for the pre-opening stage and again before a capital budget is approved. We consider all aspects of the project, including the size of the school and the location of the site. Sites in London tend to cost more to acquire and this is taken into account when considering the value for money offered by London projects.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many additional school places have been created by free schools that (a) have been provided between February 2014 to date and (b) are projected to be provided in 2016-17.

Edward Timpson

Since February 2014, 133 free schools have opened (2 in 2013/14, 79 in 2014/15 and 52 in 2015/16 academic years), creating over 71,000 new school places once at capacity. In academic year 2016/17 we expect to create over 20,000 new school places at capacity.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many pupil vacancies there are in free schools in (a) London, (b) Yorkshire and (c) England; and what proportion of the free schools that opened in each year since 2012 have vacancies.

Edward Timpson

Information is not currently collected on vacancies in schools. Information on numbers of pupils on roll and planned admission numbers in schools can be combined to estimate how many unfilled places exist in free schools.

In October 2015 there were (a) 2,088 unfilled places (13%) in mainstream free schools in London, (b) 189 unfilled places (7%) in mainstream free schools in Yorkshire and the Humber, and (c) 7,674 unfilled places (15%) in mainstream free schools in England[1]. 79% of mainstream free schools that opened since 2012 had one or more unfilled places which is the same proportion as for all mainstream state funded schools at May 2015[2].

These figures are based on pupils in reception to year 11 in mainstream free schools and will include schools which had only recently opened.

[1] Figures are based on (a) total number of pupils on roll across years Reception to year 11 from October 2015 and (b) total planned admission numbers across these year groups. It excludes year groups which are not yet populated. Figures exclude 16-19, Special and AP free schools. Some free schools build up their capacity in year groups gradually, so for example they may open with one class of 30 in Reception in year 1, and in year 2 expand to have two classes of 30 in Reception. This means that the current capacity in a free school in Reception, for example, may not be the eventual capacity once the school is at full capacity.

[2] See School capacity: academic year 2014 to 2015 at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-capacity-academic-year-2014-to-2015

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the capital and revenue costs of free schools in London that (a) have been provided to date, (b) are to be provided in 2016-17 and (c) are projected to be provided between 2017 and 2020.

Edward Timpson

The Department for Education’s accounts show that the total capital spend on free schools up to the end of 2013-14 was £1.029bn; the accounts for following years will be published in due course. The capital costs of individual projects are published once contracts are finalised and are no longer commercially sensitive. They are published, along with the costs of sixteen projects in London and one project in Kirklees, on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/capital-funding-for-open-free-schools

The total pre- and post-opening revenue expenditure for free school projects that opened in 2011 to 2013 is also published on GOV.UK at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/revenue-expenditure-for-free-schools

We plan to publish updated revenue expenditure for free schools that were opened in 2014 and 2015 within the next few weeks. This data will be updated annually each Autumn.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the capital and revenue costs of free schools that (a) have been provided to date, (b) are to be provided in 2016-17 and (c) are projected to be provided between 2017 and 2020.

Edward Timpson

The Department for Education’s accounts show that the total capital spend on free schools up to the end of 2013-14 was £1.029bn; the accounts for following years will be published in due course. The capital costs of individual projects are published once contracts are finalised and are no longer commercially sensitive. They are published, along with the costs of sixteen projects in London and one project in Kirklees, on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/capital-funding-for-open-free-schools

The total pre- and post-opening revenue expenditure for free school projects that opened in 2011 to 2013 is also published on GOV.UK at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/revenue-expenditure-for-free-schools

We plan to publish updated revenue expenditure for free schools that were opened in 2014 and 2015 within the next few weeks. This data will be updated annually each Autumn.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average class size is in existing free schools.

Edward Timpson

Data on the size of classes for free schools can be obtained from the underlying data of the ‘Schools, pupils and their characteristics: January 2015’ statistics available on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2015

Class sizes for free schools can be calculated using the spreadsheet.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her policy is on ensuring that co-ordinated school place planning is retained in the event of all state schools becoming academies.

Edward Timpson

Local authorities (LAs) have a legal obligation to ensure that there are sufficient local schools to provide a primary and secondary place for all children needing one. Supporting LAs to do this continues to be one of the Government’s top priorities. That is why we have committed to spending £7 billion on school places up to 2021, which, alongside investment in the free schools programme, we expect to create 600,000 new places. This is on top of the £5 billion the Coalition Government spent between 2011 and 2015, which helped to create 600,000 additional places between 2010 and 2015.

LAs have always relied on their strong relationships with local schools to deliver the places needed and this will remain the case in a fully academised system. For example, many local authorities are recognising the opportunity that the free schools programme provides and are encouraging new and existing high quality education providers to apply to set up a new school in their area. We encourage all local authorities to do likewise.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent representations she has received from local authorities about overprovision of school places in areas where a free school or schools are (a) established or (b) proposed.

Edward Timpson

Regional Schools Commissioners hold regular meetings with local authorities to determine where there is a need for additional school places that could be met through establishing a free school. In addition, the department seeks local authorities’ comments on each new application for a free school and, for applications approved into the pre-opening stage, we seek their views as part of our statutory duty under section 9 of the Academies Act 2010 to assess the impact of establishing a new school on existing schools and colleges.