§ Mrs. Ann TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) if he will list those schools outside the maintained sector that have approached his Department, the Funding Agency for Schools or the Grant-Maintained Schools Centre with a view to acquiring grant-maintained status;
(2) how many inquiries his Department has received from independent schools seeking to become grant maintained; and how many inquiries from parents' groups, or other groups, seeking to set up new grant-maintained schools.
§ Mr. Robin SquireThe Department has received over 370 requests for information about the establishment of new grant-maintained schools by promoters. Of these, one third have been from existing independent schools and two thirds from other groups. No formal proposals have been received from promoters, and it would be inappropriate to infer, from these initial inquiries, the promoters who may formally publish proposals for new grant-maintained schools in due course.