§ Mr. WyattTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what measures her Department has taken to prevent the selling of school playing fields. [44444]
§ John HealeyBefore October 1998, there was nothing to prevent a local authority selling a school playing field if it wanted to. As a result of widespread public concern, section 77 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 was introduced in October 1998 to stop the indiscriminate sale of school playing fields. Local authorities and governing bodies of all maintained schools are now required to obtain the Secretary of State's consent before they can sell any part of a playing field.
Applications to sell school playing fields are assessed against the following criteria:
- a. schools' needs: that playing field provision and curriculum requirements at the school selling the playing field, and at other schools in the local area, will be met;
- b. community needs: that community use of a school's playing fields is taken into account, with alternative facilities made available if necessary;
- c. finance: that the sale proceeds are re-invested to provide new or improved sports facilities at schools, or are used to help to raise standards by providing better educational facilities.
The criteria are set out in the Department's Guidance 0580/2001: "The Protection of School Playing Fields and Land for City Academies". Only those applications that meet the criteria are approved. Furthermore, since July 2001, all applications have been scrutinised by the independent School Playing Fields Advisory Panel to make sure that they conform to the published criteria. The Panel comprises representatives from the National Playing Fields Association, the Central Council of Physical Recreation, the education organisation Learning through Landscapes, the National Association of Head Teachers and the Local Government Association.