§ 14. Mr. Tom Brake (Carshalton and Wallington)If he will make a statement on the impact of school selection policies on the availability of secondary school places in south-west London. [114611]
§ The Minister for School Standards (Ms Estelle Morris)This information is not available centrally. Section 14 of the Education Act 1996 places a duty on individual local education authorities to ensure that there are sufficient school places for all children of compulsory school age in their area.
§ Mr. BrakeI suppose I thank the Minister for her response, although it is not entirely helpful. Is she able to give my constituents any reassurances that next year their children will not be waiting in agony to find out whether they have a school place locally, when many of their friends will have already been allocated a place? Can she assure us that she believes that local children should have priority in local schools?
§ Ms MorrisI know that it is a policy of the Liberal Democrats that the Greenwich judgment should be reversed, but that is not a view that we share. We think that parents should have the option of expressing a preference for a school that is outside their LEA boundary. Children often live closer to a school that is in a neighbouring LEA than to a school in their own LEA. I accept that the waiting game for knowing which place a child will get is difficult for parents and pupils, but I am afraid that it was ever thus. I assure the hon. Gentleman that every child will have a place.