HC Deb 09 November 2000 vol 356 cc360-3W
Dr. Tonge

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will provide a breakdown by region of the number of state schools which sought approval from his Department for the sale of playing fields between 1990–2000. [136752]

Jacqui Smith

[holding answer 6 November 2000]: The information is not available in the form requested.

Prior to October 1998 only grant-maintained schools were required to seek consent from the Secretary of State before selling any land. Since the introduction in October 1998 of section 77 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998, local authorities and governing bodies of all maintained schools, including foundation schools, have been required to obtain the Secretary of State's consent before disposing of playing fields or any part of a playing field. The Secretary of State will grant such approval only if the application meets the tough criteria against which all applications are considered.

Before the change in the law, local authorities could and did sell playing fields as and when they chose to do so. An estimated 40 playing fields a month were sold in this way under the previous Government.

Since October 1998 there have been 180 applications from local authorities and governing bodies to sell a playing field or part of a playing field. The following table provides a breakdown of these applications by local education authority.

Table showing by local education authority the number of applications for consent to the sale of playing fields from 1 October 1998 to 6 November 2000
Local education authority 1998 1999 2000
Barking and Dagenham
Barnet 1
Barnsley 1
Bath and North East Somerset 1
Bedfordshire 1
Bexley 1
Birmingham
Blackburn with Darwen
Blackpool
Bolton
Bournemouth
Bracknell Forest 1
Bradford 1
Brent
Brighton and Hove
Bristol 1
Bromley
Buckinghamshire 4 4
Bury 1 1
Calderdale 1
Cambridgeshire
Camden 1
Cheshire 1 6 1
Co. Durham 2 2
Cornwall 1
Coventry 1
Croydon 1
Cumbria 4 1
Darlington
Derby City of
Derbyshire 1 1 2
Devon 2
Doncaster 1
Dorset 1 1
Dudley
Ealing 1
East Riding of Yorkshire
East Sussex 1
Enfield
Table showing by local education authority the number of applications for consent to the sale of playing fields from 1 October 1998 to 6 November 2000
Local education authority 1998 1999 2000
Essex 1 1 1
Gateshead
Gloucestershire 1 2
Greenwich
Hackney
Halton 1
Hammersmith and Fulham 1
Hampshire 1 5
Haringey
Harrow
Hartlepool
Havering
Herefordshire
Hertfordshire 2 3
Hillingdon
Hounslow
Isle of Wight
Isles of Scilly
Islington
Kensington and Chelsea
Kent 4 4
Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Thames
Kirklees 1
Knowsley
Lambeth
Lancashire 1 3 1
Leeds 1
Leicester, City of
Leicestershire
Lewisham
Lincolnshire
Liverpool
London, Corporation of
Luton
Manchester 1 2
Medway Towns
Merton
Middlesbrough
Milton Keynes 1 2
Newcastle 1 2 1
Newham
Norfolk 1 1
North East Lincolnshire
North Lincolnshire
North Somerset 1
North Tyneside 1
North Yorkshire 1 3
Northamptonshire 1
Northumberland 2 1
Nottingham 2 1
Nottinghamshire 2 1
Oldham
Oxfordshire 2 1
Peterborough 1
Plymouth
Poole
Portsmouth
Reading
Redbridge
Redcar and Cleveland
Richmond upon Thames
Rochdale 1
Rotherham
Rutland
Salford 2
Sandwell
Sefton
Sheffield 1
Shropshire 1
Slough
Table showing by local education authority the number of applications for consent to the sale of playing fields from 1 October 1998 to 6 November 2000
Local education authority 1998 1999 2000
Solihull
Somerset 2
South Gloucestershire
South Tyneside
Southampton 1
Southend-on-Sea
Southwark
St. Helens
Staffordshire 2
Stockport
Stockton-on-Tees
Stoke-on-Trent
Suffolk
Sunderland
Surrey 3 6 3
Sutton
Swindon
Tameside 2
Telford and Wrekin 1
Thurrock
Torbay
Tower Hamlets
Trafford 1
Wakefield 2 2
Walsall 1 1 2
Waltham Forest
Wandsworth 1
Warrington
Warwickshire 1 6 4
West Berkshire
West Sussex 1 3 1
Westminster 1 1
Wigan 3 3
Wiltshire 2 1
Windsor and Maidenhead 1
Wirral
Wokingham
Wolverhampton 1 1
Worcestershire
York 1
Total 23 94 63

Note:

School playing fields means school playgrounds and other pupil recreation and social areas as well as grassed playing fields. It also means small areas of playing fields as well as whole playing fields.