§ Miss McIntoshTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what percentage of publicly owned school sports fields have been sold(a) since 1997 and (b) in 2001–02. [17176]
§ John HealeyI have been asked to reply.
In October 1998, this Government introduced new legislation to protect school playing fields from unjustified disposal. Precise information on the number of sales that have taken place since that time was included in the answer given by my hon. Friend the Minister of State for School Standards on 18 October 2001, Official Report, column 1292W.
Before October 1998, local authorities were able to sell school playing fields without the permission of the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, and information on the individual sales that took place was not collected centrally. Information on the total number of school sports fields was also not available centrally.
We are currently validating the Asset Management Plan information we have received from authorities, including that relating to school sports fields, and hope to be in a position to publish further analysis in the spring.