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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr Barry Sheerman on 2014-03-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many representations he has received from local authorities indicating that the local authority does not require a proposed free school; and whether this has led to any proposed free school applications being withdrawn.

Edward Timpson

The Department for Education does not hold this information centrally and collecting it would incur disproportionate cost.

Under Section 9 of the Academies Act 2010, the Department writes to local authorities where a free school is being proposed to seek their views on the impact that establishing the school would likely have on existing schools and colleges.

Local authorities often take this opportunity to indicate whether they support or oppose the establishment of a free school.

Any representations from local authorities are considered by my Rt hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education before he decides to enter into a funding agreement with the relevant academy trust.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr Barry Sheerman on 2014-03-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has carried out any form of assessment of the number of state-funded schools where religious items or articles of clothing form part of the school’s (a) pupil and (b) staff uniform policy.

David Laws

The Department for Education has not conducted any assessment of the number of state-funded schools where religious items or clothing form part of the uniform policy for pupils or staff.

It is for the governing body of each school to decide whether pupils should wear a uniform, and if so, what that should be. We do, however, expect schools to have full regard to their responsibilities under equalities law, and to act sensibly, fairly and flexibly in the interests of all their students in setting their school uniform policy.

Any dress code for school staff is an issue for the employer, whether that is the governing body or the local authority. As part of the general terms and conditions of employment agreed with employees, employers should consider an appropriate dress code, relevant to the individual setting, taking into account the requirements of the post and having proper regard to equality and diversity considerations.

School uniform guidance can be found at:

www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-uniform

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr Barry Sheerman on 2014-03-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 13 February 2014, Official Report, column 816W, on community schools, how many maintained schools his Department believes to be underperforming.

David Laws

Of the 4,125 maintained mainstream secondary schools, 154 were classified as underperforming in the 2012/13 academic year. Of the 15,351 maintained mainstream primary schools, 767 were classified as underperforming in the 2012/13 academic year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr Barry Sheerman on 2014-03-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of academy trusts have applied to open a free school.

Edward Timpson

There are 2,581 academy trusts in England. 207 (8%) of the free school applications submitted in application waves 1 to 5 have been submitted by, or have links to, academy trusts. Some academy trusts have applied a number of times.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr Jim Cunningham on 2014-03-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of (a) converter academies and (b) maintained schools received a (i) higher and (ii) lower Ofsted inspection result than they had received in their previous inspections in (A) 2010-11, (B) 2011-12 and (C) 2012-13.

Edward Timpson

In January this year, the Department for Education published an analysis of Ofsted inspection outcomes for converter academies and maintained schools in the report ‘Performance of converter academies in 2012 to 2013′[1]. It showed that in 2012/13 converter academies previously rated as either ‘good’ or ‘satisfactory’ were more likely to improve their rating than local authority (LA) maintained mainstream schools, and also showed converter academies previously rated as ‘outstanding’ were more likely to retain that rating than LA maintained mainstream schools.

[1]https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/performance-of-converter-academies-in-2012-to-2013

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr Nick Gibb on 2014-03-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of state-funded primary schools have acquired academy status in each local authority.

Edward Timpson

A table showing the proportion for each local authority has been placed in the House Library.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr Barry Sheerman on 2014-03-17.

To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross representing the House of Commons Commission, what steps he is taking to improve the support available to hon. Members.

John Thurso

The fundamental aims of the Commission are not only to ensure that the House is valued and effective in holding the Government to account and scrutinising legislation, but that individual Members have the information, advice, support and technology they need to be effective in their work and to engage closely with their constituents.

We are coming to the end of a programme of savings, during which the governing principle has been that any cost reductions should not adversely affect the ability of the House and its Members to carry out their parliamentary functions. Indeed many of the changes have been a spur to innovation in the support available to Members. Now that we are on track to achieve the savings target, we have the opportunity to re-appraise the provision of resources and ensure, for example in the area of select committees, that we are providing the right level of support.