§ Mrs. Ann TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will give, for each local education authority for which figures are available, the number of surplus places in(a) maintained primary schools and (b) maintained secondary schools in January 1992 and January 1993; and what percentage each is of the capacity of school places in each category.
§ Mr. ForthThe Department collected comprehensive information on surplus school places through a detailed survey in 1991. For the figures derived from that survey, I refer the hon. Member to the reply to the hon. Member for Warwickshire, North (Mr. O'Brien) on 31 January 1994,Official Report, columns 517–21.
We intend to make regulations later this year under section 21 of the Education Act 1993 requiring all LEAs and, where it has relevant responsibilities, the new Funding Agency for Schools, to submit information to the Secretary of State annually, beginning in 1994, on the numbers of surplus places in LEA-maintained and grant-maintained schools respectively.