§ Mr. WillisTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what provision has been made to ensure that some new Church of England schools are established in areas of economic and social hardship.[8407]
§ Mr. TimmsWe welcomed Lord Dearing's June report to the Archbishop's Council, which recommended an increase in the number of Church of England secondary school places to build on the Church's record of meeting parental demand and local community need. However, decisions to set up new faith schools, or close other schools and reopen them as faith schools, are taken at local level—by the school organisation committee for the area, or the schools adjudicator where the committee cannot agree—and depend on proposals coming forward.
In the White Paper "Schools: achieving success", published on 5 September, we proposed to legislate for different procedures, where a need for a wholly new school is identified by a LEA. The LEA will have to invite any interested parties—which may include the Church of England or other faith group—to bring forward proposals to establish the new school. After the local school organisation committee has commented on alternative proposals, the Secretary of State will decide between them, taking account of the proposals educational merits, value for money and the outcome of local consultation.