§ Mr. FatchettTo ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) if he will estimate the cost of keeping surplus places in primary and secondary schools in each academic year since 1987–88 in 1991–92 prices;
(2) if he will estimate the number of surplus places in primary and secondary schools in each academic year since 1987–88.
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§ Mr. Forth[holding answer 9 July 1992]: The table records the estimated number of surplus places over the last four calendar—not academic—years.
Year Primary Secondary 1987 900,000 770,000 1988 860,000 890,000 1989 830,000 950,000 1990 780,000 1,000,000 These figures derive from an assessment of school capacity carried out in 1981 which has been adjusted annually to reflect accommodation brought into and taken out of use. We have recently completed an initial survey of school capacity. On the basis of this survey we estimate that in 1991 there were up to 1.5 million surplus places in England—approximately 800,000 in the primary sector and 700,000 in the secondary sector. Further work needs to be done to establish the reliability of these figures for each LEA.