§ David WrightTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what her policy is on surplus places in schools; and if she will publish the numbers and percentages of surplus places for each local education authority in England [46933]
§ Mr. TimmsOur policies are focused on raising educational standards. It is wasteful for resources to be locked into maintaining surplus places in schools. Wherever possible these should be freed up and directed towards improving standards. In planning school provision, local education authorities should look for opportunities for removing surplus capacity, with a view to bringing supply and demand for school places into better balance. Their initial focus should be on those schools with 25 per cent. or more of their places unfilled, having particular regard to standards at those schools. The overall aim should be to maximise parental preference and to provide good quality education in the most cost-effective way. The Department's annual survey of surplus places allows us to monitor how local education authorities are meeting this challenge. The Audit Commission has again drawn attention to this issue and, with District Auditors, is promoting good practice.
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surplus places by local authority area at January 2001 Primary1 Secondary Actual surplus2 Schools with surplus of 25 per cent. or more3 Actual surplus Schools with surplus of 25 per cent. or more3 LEA Name Number of places surplus as a percentage of total places Number per cent. Number of places surplus as a percentage of total places Number per cent. 301 Barking and Dagenham 1,260 7 2 4 467 4 0 0 302 Barnet 768 3 0 0 639 3 0 0 370 Barnsley 1,754 8 8 9 1,223 9 1 7 800 Bath and NE Somerset 1,197 9 8 12 721 6 1 8 820 Bedfordshire 4,161 15 28 19 4,121 10 11 19 303 Bexley 1,274 6 5 8 2,195 11 0 0 330 Birmingham 7,531 7 31 10 4,195 6 6 8 889 Blackburn 780 5 3 5 610 6 1 11 890 Blackpool 561 5 2 6 286 4 0 0 350 Bolton 1,816 7 7 7 487 3 0 0 837 Bournemouth 422 4 0 0 1,026 10 1 10 867 Bracknell Forest 1,073 11 4 12 801 12 1 17 380 Bradford 7,419 15 36 23 2,775 8 3 11 304 Brent 1,600 8 4 7 1,317 9 1 8 846 Brighton and Hove 1,860 10 6 10 1,167 9 2 20 801 Bristol 3,370 11 15 13 1,568 8 0 0 305 Bromley 533 2 2 3 442 2 0 0 825 Buckinghamshire 6,036 13 34 18 901 3 1 3 351 Bury 1,155 7 4 6 220 2 1 7 381 Calderdale 1,757 9 8 9 789 5 0 0 873 Cambridgeshire 4,287 9 20 10 1,364 4 1 3 202 Camden 899 8 5 12 909 8 2 20 875 Cheshire 7,972 13 50 17 3,149 7 4 9 908 Cornwall 3,974 9 27 11 200 1 0 0 Local education authorities have again made progress in the removal of surplus places. The survey returns indicate that there were 699,770 surplus school places in January 2001, representing 9 per cent. of the total capacity of 7.8 million places. This is an overall reduction of 10,219 places on the 2000 figures. Since 1998 a total of 74,050 surplus places have been removed. This reduction means that more money will be spent raising school standards rather than maintaining empty buildings.
The following tables are based on the returns made by the local education authorities in respect of all maintained primary and secondary schools in their area. They set out the numbers of surplus places as at January 2001 for each local authority area, listing primary and secondary separately, together with the proportion that these represent of total capacity. They also highlight the numbers of schools which at that date had surplus of 25 per cent. or more, and at least 30 surplus places, together with the proportion that these represent of the total number of schools.
The number of schools with 25 per cent. or more surplus places has again risen for the second successive year, to 2,441 compared with 2,406 in 2000. As with the 2000 survey, the number of primary schools in this category has risen (2,139 in 2001 which represents 12 per cent. of all primary schools, compared to 2,013 (11 per cent.) in 2000) while the number of secondary schools has declined (302 in 2001, which represents 9 per cent. of all secondary schools, compared with 393 (11 per cent.) in 2000).
The returns also provide the Department with details of the action authorities propose to take on schools with 25 per cent. or more surplus. The returns indicate that in many cases action is being taken, or is planned. Where planning strategies are unclear in areas with particularly high levels of surplus, the Department will be following up with the authorities concerned.
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surplus places by local authority area at January 2001 Primary1 Secondary Actual surplus2 Schools with surplus of 25 per cent. or more3 Actual surplus Schools with surplus of 25 per cent. or more3 LEA Name Number of places surplus as a percentage of total places Number per cent. Number of places surplus as a percentage of total places Number per cent. 201 Corporation of London 6 3 — — — — — — 331 Coventry 2,730 9 11 12 1,645 7 2 11 306 Croydon 1,533 5 3 3 1,277 7 1 5 909 Cumbria 5,711 13 35 12 4,016 11 8 19 841 Darlington 855 9 5 14 421 7 0 0 831 Derby, City of 1,888 8 8 10 2,158 13 2 14 830 Derbyshire 6,492 10 44 12 3,918 8 7 15 878 Devon 5,333 9 25 8 1,519 4 0 0 371 Doncaster 5,459 17 25 22 1,205 5 1 6 835 Dorset 2,496 9 16 12 2,248 7 1 3 332 Dudley 2,831 10 8 10 724 4 1 5 840 Durham 6,687 14 57 23 2,916 8 3 8 307 Ealing 2,508 10 7 11 242 2 0 0 811 East Riding of Yorkshire 3,339 11 20 15 1,026 5 1 6 845 East Sussex 2,568 7 11 7 1,036 4 0 0 308 Enfield 825 3 3 5 2,873 12 1 6 881 Essex 11,414 9 49 10 6,616 7 4 5 390 Gateshead 1,747 10 4 5 551 5 0 0 916 Gloucestershire 5,896 12 31 12 2,043 5 2 5 203 Greenwich 2,569 12 10 15 1,323 9 2 14 204 Hackney 1,898 11 7 12 858 10 1 11 876 Halton 2,276 17 15 28 1,162 12 2 22 205 Hammersmith and Fulham 990 11 4 11 488 7 0 0 850 Hampshire 10,968 10 51 12 5,200 7 5 7 309 Haringey 1,103 6 3 4 1,471 11 1 9 310 Harrow 2,256 11 5 9 851 9 1 10 805 Hartlepool 882 9 2 7 709 10 1 17 311 Havering 2,440 11 8 12 931 6 0 0 884 Herefordshire 2,234 14 15 18 1,085 10 2 14 919 Hertfordshire 9,153 9 41 10 9,632 12 13 15 312 Hillingdon 1,442 7 3 4 1,188 7 3 18 313 Hounslow 1,854 10 6 9 545 3 0 0 921 Isle of Wight 640 8 2 4 775 6 0 0 420 Isles of Scilly 102 42 2 50 36 23 0 0 206 Islington 1,963 12 9 18 793 10 1 11 207 Kensington and Chelsea 942 13 4 15 583 14 0 0 886 Kent 6,552 6 18 4 7,623 8 5 5 810 Kingston upon Hull City of 4,629 17 15 19 1,915 11 2 13 314 Kingston upon Thames 294 3 1 3 631 7 1 10 382 Kirklees 3,483 9 14 9 2,279 8 3 9 340 Knowsley 2,632 15 15 25 1,395 12 1 9 208 Lambeth 2,228 11 6 9 1,656 19 3 30 888 Lancashire 12,653 12 87 17 5,773 7 8 9 383 Leeds 9,478 14 41 17 3,545 7 5 12 856 Leicester City 3,916 13 18 21 943 5 0 0 855 Leicestershire 3,603 7 16 7 3,157 7 4 7 209 Lewisham 1,173 6 2 3 1,826 14 2 15 925 Lincolnshire 6,025 10 37 13 4,197 9 9 14 341 Liverpool 6,766 15 33 21 3,112 9 3 9 821 Luton 2,139 10 6 10 426 4 0 0 352 Manchester 4,490 11 24 16 1,943 8 3 13 887 Medway Towns 1,641 7 12 13 2,928 13 1 5 315 Merton 1,231 9 8 16 1,312 15 2 18 806 Middlesbrough 2,012 13 7 15 787 8 2 18 826 Milton Keynes 3,509 14 17 20 1,728 13 3 27 391 Newcastle upon Tyne 2,039 10 11 15 2,004 10 5 24 316 Newham 1,572 6 4 6 1,323 7 0 0 926 Norfolk 6,876 10 38 10 3,020 7 4 8 812 North East Lincolnshire 2,256 14 13 22 838 7 1 8 813 North Lincolnshire 1,575 10 1 1 1,027 9 1 7 802 North Somerset 872 6 2 3 691 5 0 0 392 North Tyneside 1,861 11 7 13 1,770 12 3 15 815 North Yorkshire 6,438 13 49 15 1,675 4 1 2 928 Northamptonshire 5,605 10 25 9 3,501 7 6 10 929 Northumberland 3,874 18 34 24 3,254 10 11 19 892 Nottingham City of 2,544 10 14 14 3,529 21 6 30 891 Nottinghamshire 6,350 9 33 11 7,984 13 15 26 353 Oldham 2,222 10 8 8 1,134 7 2 13 931 Oxfordshire 4,104 8 22 9 4,749 11 3 7 874 Peterborough 1,825 11 6 10 1,238 9 3 23 879 Plymouth City of 2,026 9 3 4 795 4 1 6 836 Poole 569 5 1 3 676 8 1 11 851 Portsmouth 1,414 9 5 9 179 2 0 0 870 Reading 525 5 1 3 1,235 16 3 38 317 Redbridge 926 4 0 0 649 3 0 0 807 Redcar and Cleveland 1,517 10 6 12 1,430 12 3 23
surplus places by local authority area at January 2001 Primary1 Secondary Actual surplus2 Schools with surplus of 25 per cent. or more3 Actual surplus Schools with surplus of 25 per cent. or more3 LEA Name Number of places surplus as a percentage of total places Number per cent. Number of places surplus as a percentage of total places Number per cent. 318 Richmond upon Thames 438 4 1 3 569 7 1 13 354 Rochdale 1,786 8 8 11 1,434 9 2 14 372 Rotherham 2,561 10 10 9 1,383 7 1 6 679 Rutland 679 21 4 22 234 10 1 33 355 Salford 3,119 14 13 15 2,234 15 3 19 333 Sandwell 2,248 8 10 10 2,551 12 3 15 343 Sefton 3,560 13 15 16 1,280 6 2 9 373 Sheffield 4,647 10 20 14 1,102 4 0 0 893 Shropshire 3,099 12 24 17 588 3 1 5 871 Slough 1,026 9 3 10 333 4 0 0 334 Solihull 1,533 8 6 9 277 2 0 0 933 Somerset 3,159 8 12 5 92,864 9 4 10 803 South Gloucestershire 2,404 10 10 10 1,285 7 1 7 393 South Tyneside 1,251 9 3 5 1,161 10 1 9 852 Southampton 2,036 11 10 15 658 6 0 0 882 Southend 774 5 1 2 695 6 0 0 210 Southwark 1,806 8 4 6 1,148 11 1 8 342 St. Helens 1,672 10 6 10 1,000 8 0 0 860 Staffordshire 7,441 10 42 13 899 2 2 3 356 Stockport 2,964 11 15 15 1,171 7 0 0 808 Stockton on Tees 1,633 9 3 5 668 5 0 0 861 Stoke on Trent 4,835 19 21 24 934 6 1 6 935 Suffolk 6,114 12 32 13 4,610 8 5 6 394 Sunderland 4,700 16 25 26 983 5 2 12 936 Surrey 10,967 13 62 19 3,737 7 4 8 319 Sutton 902 6 2 5 670 5 1 7 866 Swindon 2,588 13 8 12 352 3 0 0 357 Tameside 1,399 7 5 6 1,064 7 2 11 894 Telford and the Wrekin 1,319 8 1 2 789 8 2 15 883 Thurrock 2,079 14 5 11 957 11 1 10 880 Torbay 430 4 3 9 238 3 0 0 211 Tower Hamlets 2,784 13 10 14 1,028 7 1 7 358 Trafford 1,557 8 9 12 1,053 6 1 6 384 Wakefield 3,141 10 15 12 1,096 5 0 0 335 Walsall 2,243 9 6 6 1,504 7 1 5 320 Waltham Forest 1,789 8 7 11 884 7 2 13 212 Wandsworth 1,485 9 6 11 465 5 1 11 877 Warrington 2,573 13 13 18 492 4 0 0 937 Warwickshire 4,754 11 20 10 2,712 8 4 11 869 West Berkshire 1,567 12 8 12 331 3 0 0 938 West Sussex 6,451 10 28 11 4,374 9 3 8 213 Westminster 395 4 1 3 697 9 0 0 359 Wigan 2,590 9 13 12 1,161 6 2 10 865 Wiltshire 4,928 12 34 16 2,643 9 6 18 868 Windsor and Maidenhead 382 5 3 7 314 3 0 0 344 Wirral 3,765 12 16 16 2,325 9 1 4 872 Wokingham 777 6 3 6 38 0 0 0 336 Wolverhampton 3,049 12 15 17 1,171 7 1 6 885 Worcestershire 5,068 12 27 14 4,285 10 9 15 816 York 1,637 11 5 8 779 7 0 0 Total 449,037 10 2,139 12 250,733 7 302 9 1 Primary figures show surplus after taking account of summer entry. 2 Actual surplus is defined as the difference between capacity and number on roll for all schools where capacity exceeds number on roll. 3 Schools with less than 30 surplus places are not included.