Mr Barry Sheerman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

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does not require a proposed free school; and whether this has led to any proposed free school applications being withdrawn.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.