§ Mr. Pawseyasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) pursuant to the answer of 29 October, how he has arrived at the figure of 720,000 surplus secondary school places; and if he will take steps to obtain the figures for each local authority;
(2) pursuant to the answer of 29 October, how he has arrived at the figure of 710,000 surplus primary school places; and if he will take steps to obtain the figures for each local authority.
§ Mr. DunnThe figures were calculated by comparing the school population at January 1987 with the estimated physical capacity of maintained schools in England. It is the responsibility of individual LEAs to assess whether there is spare capacity in the schools in their area, and if necessary to make proposals for school reorganisation aimed at removing surplus places. My right hon. Friend therefore has no plans to seek information on the number of surplus places within each authority.