Rebecca Long Bailey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-04-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of legal costs (a) to her Department and (b) to the academies and local authorities affected arising following the transfer of all local authority school land to the Secretary of State under the plans to convert all schools to academies; and what estimate she has made of such costs of the granting of leases to each academy under those plans.

Edward Timpson

In our recent White Paper, Educational Excellence Everywhere, we announced our intention for the freehold of land at community schools to transfer to the Secretary of State on their conversion to Academy status. We are clear that we want all schools to become academies and are considering proposals to remove obstacles for schools – there are too many cases where negotiations over the use of land have delayed conversion to academy status.

We are now working closely with local authorities to explore how these transfers will work in practice, including how we can best minimise the costs local authorities already face in relation to resolving land issues during conversion. The Secretary of State for Education already has the power to direct that where academy land is no longer required for a school, the land or any proceeds of sale can be returned to the local authority. That power will remain unchanged. We will, in considering how best to implement these measures, of course ensure that local needs are taken into account.